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THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 


RAMDAS      DUGGIRALA      GO  P  A  LA  KRI  SH  N  A  YY  A. 

HERO       OF       CHIRALA-PERALA. 


THE 

Chirala-Perala  Tragedy 

An  Episode  of  Voluntary  Exile 


BY 

G.  V.  KRISHNA  RAO 


Sweet  smiling  village,  loveliest  of  the  lawn, 
Thy  sports  are  fled,  and  all  thy  charms  withdrawn 
Amidst  thy  bowers  the  tyrant's  hand  is  seen, 
And  desolation  saddens  all  thy  green." 

GOLDSMITH 


GANESH   &   CO.    MADRAS 


X 


HCanr 


s^' 


THE   CAMBRIDGE 
PRESS,    MADRAS. 


DUGGIRALA  GOPALAKRISHNAYYA,  RAMDAS. 


i 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED 

(Without  Permission) 
TO 

His  Excellency  The  Right  Hon'ble 
SIR  RUFUS  DANIEL  ISSACS, 

Earl  of  Reading, 
PC.  G.C.B..  G.C.S.I..  G.C.1.E...K.C.V.O., 

Viceroy  and  Governor-General  of  India, 

TO 

His  Excellency  The  Right  Hon'ble 

Sir  Freeman  Freeman  Thomas 

Baron  Willingdon  of  Ratton, 

G.C.S.I..  G.C.I.E.,  G.B.K., 

Governor  of  Madras, 

AND  TO 

The  Hon'ble  Dewan  Bahadur 
P.  RAMARAYANINGAR,  MA, 

Minister  for  Local  Self-Government, 

Government  of  Madras, 

'^ho  have   lent  their    hands    in   the    sinful   task 

of  desolating   two  beautiful   spots   of 

God's   Creation   by   their 

neglect. 

ivi727665 


"  Earth  is  sick  and  Heaven  is  weary 

Of  the  hollow  words  that  States  and  Kingdoms- 

utter 
When  they  talk  of  truth  and  justice." 


CONTENTS 


Chapter                                                                                   1 

Page. 

Frontispiece     .. 

Proem 

I. 

Under  the  Union 

1 

11. 

Enforcement  of  Municipality 

7 

III. 

Evacuation  of  Villages  ... 

11 

IV. 

Publicity  Bureau  Answered 

16 

V. 

The  Hero  of  Chirala-Perala 

27 

Epilogue 

38 

Appendix   I — The  Publicity  Bureau's 

Statement 

43 

Appendix  II — Reply  to  the  Publicity 

Bureau 

49 

Appendix  III — Congress  Committee's 

Statement   ... 

60 

Appendix  IV — Gopalakrishniah's 

Trial 

64 

Addendum— Second  Trial  of  Chirala- 

Perala  Hero 

96 

,,         Final  Statement 

136 

PROEM 

I  have  tried  to  set  out  the  facts  about  the 
Chirala-Perala  Tragedy  as  clearly  and  dis- 
passionately as  I  can.  I  have  omitted  much 
that  I  might  have  said.  Throughout  the  book 
I  have  tried  to  understate  difficulties  rather 
than  exaggerate  them,  for  exaggeration  defeats 
its  own  purpose.  But  I  think  if  the  reader  will 
try  to  realise  for  himself  the  miserable  state  of 
affairs  where  a  village  can  have  no  say  even 
in  simplest  matters,  where  everything  is  under 
the  eye  of  a  Government  official,  where  initia- 
tive is  forbidden,  where  the  ignorant  people 
are  severely  repressed,  he  will  certainly  have 
some  idea  that  unrest  is  not  unreasonable,  and; 
surely  feel  the  desertion  or  death  of  village  units 
portend  the  destruction  of  Empires,  or  common- 
wealths or  all  civilizations. 

20th  January,  t9S2.  ]  ^-  ^-  ^^^^HNA  RAO. 


ERRATA. 

Page  Line        For  Read 

9    23    old  union  again      old  union. 

24      9     into  to 

26     19     in  on 

Perugancbiproie     Penuganchiprole 
the  boy  very  much    the  boy. 
humour  incarnate  Humour  Incarnate 
Study  idioms  learn  English 

and  according         and  act  according 


27 

5 

27 

12 

35 

5 

no 

24 

153 

14 

DUOGIRALA  CiOPALAKRISHNAYYA.  M.A. 


THE 
CHIRALA-PERALA    TRAGEDY 

AN  EPISODE  OF  VOLUNTARY  EXILE 

Chapter  I 
Under  the   Union 

Of  all  the  errors  committed  by  the  Indian 
Government  no^ie  is  more  gravely  serious 
than  their  destruction  of  village  organism 
throughout  India.  From  times  of  yore  vil- 
lage has  been  the  unit  of  all  free  life  and 
civilization.  It  has  absorbed  within  itself 
diverse  trades  and  occupations  and  religions  and 
castes  in  one  community.  It  has  absorbed  new- 
comers, acquired  new  blood,  assimilated  new 
ideas  to  add  to  the  old  and  *'  leaven  "  them. 
The  village  is  the  basis  of  all  civilization  and 
"  the  one    germ  of  corporate  life  that  could  be 


2       THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

encouraged  into  a  larger  growth."  But  it  is  an 
irony  of  fate  to  note  that  it  has  been  killed  by 
the  British  administrators  in  India. 

The  English  official  comes  to  India  "  new- 
fledged  and  eager  for  his  work."  Knowing 
nothing  of  India,  he  proceeds  to  overrule 
*'  the  well-informed  Indian  opinion  and  seeks  to 
impose  English  methods  on  an  ancient  land 
which  has  its  own  traditions."  They  then 
complain  that  Indians  are  ignorant,  they  are 
not  fit  for  self-government  and  they  should  be 
ruled  with  an  iron  hand.  "  It  is  the  way  with 
the  hybrids." 

After  the  advent  of  the  British  rule  in  India, 
various  enactments  were  framed  to  destroy 
the  independent  initiative  power  of  villages 
and  crush  out  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  people, 
"  and  to  reduce  them  to  the  status  of  humble, 
tractable  servants  of  the  official  hierarchy." 
Instead  of  becoming  a  school  for  local  self- 
government,  village  administration  seems  "  in 
danger  of  conversion  into  a  branch  of  the 
bureaucracy."  It  is  also  a  pity  to  note  that  a 
section  of  our  countrymen  become  tools  in  the 
hands  of  an  Alien  Bureaucracy  which  trans- 
forms them  by  its  jugglery  into  '^  statesmen." 
It  is  these  "  statesmen  "  who  help  the  foreigner 


UNDER  THE  UNION  3 

to  enslave  people  and  advise  the  government 
to  resort  to  severe  repression  if  the  nation 
asserts  its  self-consciousness.  This  is  the 
ineffaceable  impression  one  gets  when  he  reviews 
the  history  of  local  self-government  in  India. 
To  those  who  doubt  the  above  truth,  I  cite 
the  tragic  episode  of  Chirala-Perala  in  the 
Andhradesh  as  an  instance  on  the  point,  and 
let  them  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest  the 
bitter  truth  that  the  so-called  reforms  doled  out 
now  and  then  to  a  seemingly  impotent  nation 
by  a  benevolent  Ma  Bap  Government,  sap  the 
little  bit  of  initiative  and  independence  a 
nation  possesses  and  condemn  it  to  the  hell  of 
slavery  for  ever. 

A  cluster  of  trees  consisting  of  mango  and 
cocoanut  and  other  useful  Indian  trees,  a  group 
of  dwellings  some  tiled  and  some  thatched,  a 
temple  in  the  centre,  a  church  and  a  rice  mill, 
— signs  of  the  invasion  of  modern  Western  Civi- 
lization— these  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  large 
barren  fields — this  is  the  village  of  Chirala  (in 
the  Guntur  District,  the  Madras  Presidency) : 
and  near  and  around  it  are  four  villages, 
Viraraghavapet,  Jandrapet,  Perala,  and  Old 
Chirala.  With  its  surrounding  four  villages 
Chirala   has  formed  as  the  basis  of  a  Union 


4       THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

during  the  last  forty  years  silently  doing  its 
God -appointed  task.  In  fact  the  Chirala  Union 
formed  a  little  state  in  itself  and  though  years 
have  rolled  away  and  changes  have  been  vast 
and  varied,  still  it  maintained  its  unity  and 
perfection  and  "resembled  exactly  his  proto- 
type of  at  least  one  thousand  years  ago," 

Chirala  possesses  a  Board  Elementary  School 
and  an  hospital  both  maintained  by  the  Taluk 
Board  of  Bapatla.  Educational  facilities  are 
also  afforded  in  the  form  of  twelve  Results' 
Schools  getting  government  grants.  Not  only 
these  but  a  secondary  school  maintained  by  the- 
village  committee,  a  Government's  girls'  school, 
and  Mission's  boys'  and  girls'  schools  form  the 
chief  centres  of  education  in  these  five  villages. 

The  collections  of  the  Union  amount  roughly 
to  Rs.  5,000  a  year,  which  money  used  to  be- 
spent  on  establishment,  scavenging,  and  street- 
lighting. 

These  villages  possess  excellent  and  happy 
climate.  Chirala  is  a  summer  resort  to  those 
who  cannot  atford  to  ascend  to  the  Olympian 
heights  of  Ooty  or  the  Elysian  heights  of  Simla. 
As  the  soil  of  the  villages  is  sandy  and  porous 
(the  sea  is  three  miles  distant  from  the  villages) 
there  is  no  need  on  the  part  of  a  British  official 


UNDER  THE  UNION  5 

to  think  of  a  permanent  drainage  scheme. 
The  villages  have  gardens  on  their  outskirts 
and  Nature  has  provided  them  with  scavengers 
(pigs)  in  large  numbers  ;  hence  a  British  officer 
need  not  trouble  himself  of  plans  to  maintain  a 
grand  scavenging  department.  Plenty  of  sweet 
water  can  be  had  in  the  villages  and  hence 
they  do  not  require  a  water  scheme  from  expert 
engineers  of  the  modern  day  civilization. 

The  villagers  are  simple,  happy,  and  work 
hard.  In  food  and  in  dress  as  w^ell  as  in  many 
other  things  they  are  simple.  They  are  con- 
tented and  have  no  high  ambitions.  They 
v^ork  when  there  is  work,  and  play  when  they 
have  no  work  and  enjoy  life's  pleasures  most 
keenly.  Dyeing  and  weaving  form  their  chief 
occupations  and  they  are  able  to  raise  sufficient 
food  to  sustain  them  for  a  year.  Under  the 
Union  their  life,  in  general,  flowed  on  happily 
and  smoothly  on  un-ruffled  by  anything  un- 
common, and  "  undisturbed  by  the  many 
^conflicting  interests  that  are  at  work  in  the  out- 
side world."  Truly  one  remembers  the  following 
words  of  the  poet  when  he  thinks  of  the  simple 
and  happy  life  of  the  villagers  under  the  Union  : 
■**  It  was  a  land  of  plenty  and  of  wealth  ; 
There  God's  indulgent  hand  made  for  a  race 


6       THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Supremely  blest  a  paradise  on  earth, 

A  land  of  virtuef  truth,  and  charityi 

Where  nature's  choicest  treasures  man  enjoyed 

With  littJe  toil,  where  youth  respected  agei 

Where  each  his  neighbour's  wife  his  sister  deemedi 


A  land  where  each  man  deemed  him  highly  blest 
When  he  relieved  the  mis'ries  of  the  poor ; 
When  to  his  roof  the  wearied  traveller  came 
To  share  his  proffered  bounty  with  good  cheer.*' 


CHAPTER  II 
Enforcement  of  Municipality 

Carlyle  says:  "The  ways  of  the  world  are 

more  anarchical  than  ever we  have  got 

into  the  age  of  revolutions.  All  kinds  of  things 
are  coming  to  be  subjected  to  fire  as  it  were ; 
hotter  and  bolter  the  wind  rises  around  every- 
thing." The  above  remark  applies  with  equal 
force  to  the  village  constitutions  in  India.  Intro- 
duction of  the  Ryotwari  system  (in  the  Madras 
Presidency),  and  the  extreme  centralization  of 
judicial  and  executive  powers  in  the  hands  of 
its  (British  Bureaucracy)  own  officials  have 
completed  the  task  of  destroying,  root  and 
branch,  the  old  village  constitutions  :  and  as  a 
result  we  find  now  hybrid  councils  and  unions 
in  their  places.  In  spite  of  the  cataclysmic 
changes,  the  villagers  of  the  Chirala  union  were 
self-sufficient  and  happily  living,  when,  the 
Government  of  Madras  threw  a  bomb  shell — 


8       THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

God  knows  the  reason  why — on  the  union  and 
disturbed  the  placid  contentment  of  the  villa- 
gers. 

In  November,  1919,  the  Government  of 
Madras  issued  a  notification  to  the  effect  that 
Chirala  and  Perala  should  henceforth  be  formed 
as  a  municipality;  and  Jandrapet  and  Old  Chirala 
should  be  separated  from  Chirala  and  Perala 
and  constitute  themselves  as  a  union ;  and  if 
there  were  any  complaints  to  the  contrary  they 
might  be  notified  to  the  Government  by  a  cer- 
tain date.  This  strange  pronouncement  as- 
tounded the  villagers ;  and  they,  not  only 
sent  reasoned  petitions,  but  also  deputed  some  of 
their  men  to  go  to  Madras  and  discuss  the 
question  with  the  Government.  But  all  their 
attempts  became  futile.  The  Government,  at 
last,  declared  the  constitution  of  the  munici- 
pality of  Chirala-Perala  in  January,  1920. 

Eleven  councillors  with  a  Revenue  Divisional 
Officer  as  Chairman  were  nominated  and  they 
formed  as  a  Municipal  Council  to  carry  on  the 
administration  of  Chirala-Perala.  Taxes  were 
increased  from  Rs.  4,000  to  Rs.  33,000.  Many 
revision  petitions  were  sent  up  to  the  Chairman 
complaining  about  the  nature  of  the  exorbitant 
taxation.    But  the  Chairman  advised  the  people 


ENFORCEMENT  OF  MUNICIPALITY       9 

to  pay  taxes  and  then  appeal  against  high  and 
unjust  taxation.  Tlie  advice  was  accepted  and 
for  the  first  half-year  taxes  were  paid  and  then 
the  villagers  appealed  to  the  higher  authorities 
of  their  grievances.  But  wastage  of  money  on 
courts  and  posts  was  the  result  of  their  legiti- 
mate agitation. 

At  last  goaded  to  despair  the  villagers  resolv- 
ed to  boycott  the  municipality.  The  municipal 
councillors,  feeling  the  righteous  and  just  in- 
dignation of  their  countrymen  against  the 
municipality,  resigned  in  a  body.  The  District 
Collector  having  learnt  of  the  serious  step  taken 
by  the  councillors  visited  the  place,  when,  the 
villagers  urged  him  to  recommend  the  abolition 
of  the  municipality.  Afterwards,  when, 
Hon'ble  Mr.  Ramarayaningar,  Minister  of  Local 
Self-Government,  visited  Chirala  in  February, 
1921,  the  villagers  sent  a  deputation  to  him 
praying  to  dissolve  the  municipality.  The 
councillors  unanimously  demanded  the  Minister 
to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the  people  and 
reinstate  the  old  union  again.  The  Minister 
never  cared  for  the  strong  public  opinion  but 
threatened  to  appoint  a  paid  chairman,  to 
establish  punitive  police,  to  remove  the  Railway 
Station,  Post  Office,  and  hospital,  and  to  station 


10     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

the  military  if  they  do  not  agree  to  have  a  muni- 
cipality. His  threats  having  no  effect  on  the 
villagers,  the  Minister,  through  the  help  of  the 
village  munsiff  of  Nidubrole,  invited  some 
non- Brahmins  and  tickling  their  caste  pre- 
judices and  giving  them  hopes  of  nomination 
on  the  council  tried  his  best  to  seduce  them  to 
his  side;  but  glad  to  note  he  failed  and  failed 
miserably.  After  returning  to  Madras  the 
Minister  officially  asked  the  newly-instituted 
Chirala  Municipal  Council  why  it  should  not  be 
superseded  and  a  paid  chairman  appointed  in  its 
place,  to  carry  on  its  duties.  The  Municipal 
Council  met  (the  American  Missionary  Mr. 
Thomas  too  attended)  and  in  a  well-reasoned 
statement  resolved  that  the  villagers  could  not 
bear  heavy  taxation,  the  villagers  did  not  re- 
quire a  municipality^  therefore  the  Minister 
should  abide  by  the  wishes  of  the  people  and 
instead  of  superseding  it  should  reinstate  the  old 
union  dissolving  the  Municipal  Council.  But  as 
the  master  so  the  servant,  the  Minister  being  a 
Brown  Bureaucrat,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
resolution  of  the  municipality  and,  on  1st  April, 
1921,  superseding  it  appointed  a  paid  chairman 
on  a  fat  salary  of  Rs.  390  a  month. 


CHAPTER  III 
Evacuation  of  Villages 

The  first  act  of  the  tragedy  is  over  and  you 
will  enter  upon  the  second  act  where  you  will 
witness  the  subtle  workings  of  a  Bureaucracy 
driving  out  the  villagers  across  the  plains  "  with 
their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer." 

Alleging  that  the  people  became  riotous,  burnt 
toll-gate  and  placed  toll-bar  across  the  rail-road 
stopping  the  Calcutta  mail  for  some  time,  the 
Government  stationed  a  batch  of  reserve  police 
(100  or  so  in  number)  at  Chirala  and  thus  began 
their  operations  in  the  field,  viz.,  threatening 
the  villagers  to  submit  to  the  municipality.  The 
paid  chairman,  with  the  help  of  the  reserve 
police,  went  to  the  defaulters'  houses  and  in 
many  cases  attached  their  properties,  which, 
though  auctioned  at  different  places  many  a 
time,  nobody  bought  them.  In  consequence  of 
these  repressive  acts  the  villagers  apprehend- 
ed danger  to  their  person  and  property  and  con« 


12     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

suited  their  leaders  what  to  do  in  those  circum- 
stances.   At  that  time  Mahatma  Gandhi,  on  his 
way  to  Madras,  visited  Chirala  and  inquiring 
into  the  grievances  of  the  villagers  advised  them 
either  to  adopt  civil  disobedience  or  desatyag, 
i.e.,  to  evacuate  the  villages.    To  adopt   civil 
disobedience  means  to  refuse  payment  of  taxes, 
to  submit  to  the  attachment  of  property,  and  if 
necessary  to  go  to  jails  in  large  numbers.    The 
leaders  of  the  villagers  apprehended   that,    if 
they  adopt  civil  disobedience,   they  might   at 
any  moment  lose  their  patience  and  come  into 
conflict  with  the  Bureaucracy   which   awaits 
with  glee  for  an  opportunity  "  to  make  them 
learn  a  lesson  which  they  might  not  forget  for 
another     fifty     years."     Thereupon     Ramdas 
Duggirala    Gopalakrishnayya,    the    leader    of 
Chirala- Perala  advised   the   villagers   to  leave 
the  municipal  limits,  to  construct  huts  on  the 
outskirts,  and  live  in  them  till  the  fulfilment  of 
their  wishes.    Accordingly,  the  villagers,  15,000 
in  all,  gathering  their  properties,  began  to  eva- 
cuate the  villages.    During  those   midsummer 
days,  the  people  were  prepared  even  to  give  up 
their  young  children  to  death  on  their  way 
or  in  the  huts,  and  the  old  men,  taking  their  be- 
all  on  their  heads,  were  prepared  even  to  die  or 


EVACUATION  OF  VILLAGES  IS 

swoon  on  their  way  rather  than  meekly  submit 
to  a  wanton  disregard  of  their  popular  rights 
and  liberties  by  the  Bureaucracy. 

Afterwards  the  cases,  regarding  toll-shed- 
burning,  toll-bar  placed  across  railway  lines,, 
were  duly  heard  before  a  tribunal.  The  evi- 
dence extracted  before  the  tribunal  clearly 
proved  that  the  villagers  were  innocent  and  had 
nothing  to  do  with  those  mischievous  acts 
engineered  by  their  enemies  behind  the  scenes. 

After  the  villagers  left  their  native  soil  to  live 
in  huts  constructed  by  themselves  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  municipality,  some  engineered 
attempts  were  made  to  burn  vacated  houses 
and  as  a  result  we  witness  ten  houses  were 
burnt  to  ashes.  Had  there  been  a  sudden  blast 
of  wind  when  the  fire  occurred,  both  the  villages 
should  have  been  burnt  to  ashes  !  But  God 
frowned  and  non-co-operated  with  the  male- 
factors. 

Before  the  evacuation  of  the  villages — 
'*  As  I  past  with  careless  steps  and  slow, 
The  minghng  notes  came  softened  from  below; 
The  swain  responsive  as  the  milk-maid  sung, 
The  sober  herd  that  lowed  to  meet  their  young, 
The  noisy  geese  that  gabbled  o'er  the  pool. 
The  playful  children  just  let  loose  from  schooh 


14     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

The  watch-dog's  voice    that  bayed  the   whis- 
pering wind, 
And   the   loud    laugh   that   spoke   the   vacant 

mind  ; 
These  all  in  sweet  confusion  sought  the   shade. 
And  filled    each   pause    the   nightingale    had 
made." 
Bat  now — 
"the  sounds  of  population  fail, 
No  cheerful  murmurs  fluctuate  in  the  gale, 
No  busy  steps  the  grass-grown  foot-way  tread, 
For  all  the  bloomy  flush  of  life  is  fled." 
Both  the  villages  are  in  a  dilapidated  con- 
dition for  the  last  six  months.    We  find  jackals 
taking  their  abode  in  the  deserted  houses.     One 
feels    terrified  at  the  spectacle   of  seeing    the 
snakes  crawhng  here  and  there  in  the  deserted 
villages.    Green  pasture  has  grown  by  the  side- 
ways in  the  villages  and  Nature  "  red  in  tooth 
and  claw  "  reigns  supreme.    When  I  visited  the 
villages  after  evacuation,  I  felt  pained  at  the 
desolation  of  the  two  beautiful  spots  of  God's 
creation  and  involuntarily  remembering  recited 
the  words  of  the  poet  (with  slight  change) — 
**  Sweet  Chiral  !'  parent  of  the  blissful  hour, 
Thy  glades  forlorn  confess  the  tyrant's  power, 
Here,  as  I  take  my  solitary  rounds 
Amidst  thy  tangling  walks  and  ruined  grounds. 


EVACUATION  OF  VILLAGES  15 

And,  many  a  year  elapsed,  return  to  view 
Where  once  the  cottage  stood,  the  hawthorn 

grew, 
Remembrance  wakes  with  all  her  busy  train. 
Swells  at   my   breast,  and    turns  the  past   to 
pain," 
The  villagers  are  determined  not  to  re-enter 
the  villages  till   the  dissolution  of  the  munici- 
pality. At  first  some  people  desired  to  return  to 
the  deserted  villages  but  happily  the  incarcera- 
tion of   their    beloved    chief    intervened   and 
they   too   emphatically   declared   to    me   their 
intention   of  staying  in   the  huts  in  the   new 
colony  till  the  municipality   is  abolished.    As 
long  as  there  is  the  municipality  in  existence. — 
"  Thither  no  more  the  peasant  shall  repair 
To  sweet  oblivion  of  his  daily  care  ; 
No  more  the  farmer's  news,  the  barber's  talet 
No  more  the  woodman's  ballad  shall  prevail ; 
No  more  the  smith  his  dusky  brow  shall  clear. 
Relax  his   ponderous    strength,   and    lean    to 

hear; 
The  host  himself  no  longer  shall  be  found 
Careful  to  see  the  mantling  bliss  go  round; 
Nor  the  coy  maid. " 


CHAPTER  IV 

Publicity  Bureau  Answered 

When  ,the  villagers  were  struggling  in  the 
white  heat  of  a  mid-summer  season  in  the  huts 
to  maintain  their  ordinary  human  rights,  the 
Government  of  Madras,  enjoying  on  the 
Olympion  heights  of  Ooty,  coolly  kept  quiet  with- 
out once  reviewing  its  act  of  misbehaviour  to- 
wards a  vast  population  of  15,000  human  souls, 
in  the  light  of  the  altered  circumstances  of  the 
case.  On  the  other  hand,  a  statement  was  issued 
by  the  Publicity  Bureau,  Madras,*  defending  the 
Government's  action  and  attributing  the  whole 
trouble  to  the  non-co-operators.  The  reasons — if 
reasons  they  are — forwarded  on  behalf  of  the 
Government  by  the  Publicity  Bureau  are,  to 
put  it  mildly,  mischievous,  if  not  meaningless. 

The  Publicity  Bureau  says  because  the 
Sanitary  Commissioner  recommended  the  con- 
stitution of  the  municipality  on  grounds  of  public 
health,  therefore  the  Government  acted  on  his 

*  Vide  Appendix  I. 


PUBLICITY  BUREAU  ANSWERED      17 

suggestion.  This  contention  betrays  woeful 
ignorance  of  the  conditions  of  the  villages  on 
the  part  of  a  Sanitary  Commissioner.  Did 
he  mean  to  say  that  the  union  was  not  taking 
an  active  interest  in  the  work  of  sanitation? 
Did  he  compare  the  statistics  of  births,  deaths  and 
infectious  diseases  spread  in  the  villages  with 
those  of  other  municipal  towns  and  villages? 
Indeed,  it  is  true  that  plague  infected  these  vill- 
ages in  1918.  But  this  is  directly  attributable  to 
the  importation  of  it  from  big  cities  and  towns, 
Bombay,  Ahmedabad,  Bezwada,  and  Guntur, 
Only  25  deaths  occurred  from  plague  in  Chirala 
and  its  surrounding  villages.  Why  not  the 
Government  convert  the  municipalities  of 
Guntur  and  Bezwada  into  corporations  for  they 
have  betrayed  their  inability  of  administering 
their  areas  when  plague  infected  ?  For  the 
matter  of  that  Bapatla,  Vetapalem  unions,  and 
the  areas  of  some  other  non-unions  too  were 
infected  with  plague.  Then  why  does  not  the 
Government  turn  them  into  municipalities  so 
that  money  might  be  found  "for  the  improve- 
ment of  sanitation "  of  those  infected  areas  ? 
Why  did  the  Governmentseparate  Jandrapet,  a 
place  infected  with  plague  from  Chirala  munici- 
pality and  awarded  it  a  union  ?  When  every 
2 


18     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

body  knows  that  to  evacuate  a  place  infected 
with  plague  is  the  best  and  wise  thing  for  one 
to  do,  it  is  strange  to  hear  the  absurd  statement 
that  the  plague-infected  area  should  be  convert- 
ed into  a  municipality.  Let  the  reader  judge 
for  himself  the  soundness  of  this  argument 
forwarded  by  an  apologetic  Publicity  Bureau  on 
behalf  of  tlie  Government  of  Madras ! 

I  invite  the  reader's  attention  to  read 
Appendix  II,  a  statement  made  in  reply  to  the 
Publicity  Bureau  by  the  Secretary,  the  Andhra 
Provincial  Congress  Committee,  in  which  the 
Secretary,  in  a  well-reasoned  and  logical 
manner,  refutes  the  contentions  of  the  Bureau,, 
argument  by  argument,  and  clearly  proves  the 
gross  neglect  paid  by  the  Government  in  this 
matter,  and  how  a  ''prestige-ridden"  bureaucracy 
tries  to  override  "the  wishes  of  the  people 
expressed  emphatically  and  un-ambiguously." 

Suppose  (a  moment  please!)  the  arguments 
of  the  Bureau  are  right  and  a  municipality 
should  be  established  at  Chirala.  What  are  the 
benefits  that  the  Chirala  people  accrue  from  a 
municipality  ?  The  benefits  are — 

(1)  to  bear  the  expenses  of  a  school  and 
hospital  maintained  by  the  Taluk  Board  in  the 
past  days,  (2)  to  have  a  permanent  vaccinator. 


PUBLICITY  BUREAU  ANSWERED      19 

(3)  to  have  a  registrar  of  births  and  deaths  (this 
work  used  to  be  done  by  the  village  munsiff 
under  the  union),  (4)  to  have  a  sanitary 
inspector  and  building  experts,  (5)  to  have  an 
Overseer  with  his  establishment,  (6)  to  have  a 
manager,  an  accountant,  a  tax-clerk,  a  warrant 
officer,  a  typist,  a  shroff,  etc.  (The  work  of  all 
these  used  to  be  done  effectively  by  a  clerk  on  a 
salary  of  Rs.  18  a  month  under  the  union).  In 
short  the  expenses  on  all  these  items  (excluding 
hospitals  and  school)  approximately  comes  up  to 
Rs.  14,500  a  year.  On  the  other  hand  the  whole 
work  was  done  by  the  union  with  Rs.  4,000  a 
year.  Is  it  not  a  reckless  wastage  of  money  of 
the  poor  villagers  under  the  municipality  ?  This 
is  the  blessing  the  Government  bestows  on  the 
villagers  and  for  which  they  are  maltreated 
without  pity ! 

The  Bureau  contends  why  the  Taluk  Board 
should  pay  for  the  expenses  of  the  hospital  and 
other  conveniences  in  Chirala.  It  should  be 
stated  that  the  hospital  at  Chirala  is  intended 
for  the  use  of  the  whole  district.  The  villages 
possess  30  or  35  good  Ayurvedic  physicians  who 
treat  the  villagers  of  their  petty  diseases. 
Except  in  serious  and  complicated  cases,  none 
of  the  villagers  had  any  necessity  to  go  to  the 


20     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Board's  Hospital.  An  examination  of  the  atten- 
dance register  at  the  hospital  reveals  that 
people  from  outside  the  villages  form  a  large 
majority  of  the  cases  attending  the  hospital. 

When  hospitals  at  various  places  in  other 
unions  are  being  maintained  by  Taluk  Boards^ 
is  it  a  special  rule  laid  down  by  the  Government 
of  Madras  that  Chirala  should  maintain  its  own 
hospital  ?  Are  not  schools,  as  a  rule,  maintained 
by  Taluk  Boards  in  union  and  non-union  areas? 
Thus  we  see  this  argument  of  the  Bureau  also  is 
devoid  of  meaning. 

The  Bureau  says  also,  as,  in  1918,  the  Union. 
Chairman  advised  constitution  of  a  municipality 
and  as  the  District  Board  supported  the  chair- 
man's finding,  hence  the  Government  establish- 
ed a  municipality.  India  is  a  land  of  mysteries. 
Local  self-government  is  an  anamoly  in  India. 
The  people  have  no  right  in  choosing  their  own 
oificials  in  local  administration  but  nomination 
is  the  order  of  the  day.  A  nominated  member  on 
the  Union,  Council,  or  Assembly  is  a  Johukum 
wallah^  begs  the  Bureaucracy  for  favours,  acts 
according  to  the  wishes  of  the  Bureaucracy  and 
meekly  submits  to  everything  the  Bureaucracy 
says  or  does.  There  may  be  exceptions  to  the 
rule  here  and  there  but  on  the  whole,  it  is  the 


PUBLICITY  BUREAU  ANSWERED       21 

general  rule  which  could  not  be  contradicted  b^ 
any  one,  nay,  not  even  by  the  Bureau. 

Probably  the  Bureau  does  not  know  that  the 
people  protested  against  the  nomination  of  the 
said  person  as  the  Union  Chairman  when  he  was 
appointed  to  the  post.  The  members  of  the 
union  too  were  nominated  by  the  Government. 
It  is  this  union  with  its  chairman,  a  man  hated 
by  the  people,  at  its  head  recommended  the 
constitution  of  a  municipality !  This  is  the  form 
of  Local  self-government  we  are  enjoying 
under  the  British  Rule  during  the  last  half- 
a- century  and  more  ! 

What  wonder  is  there  if  the  District  Board 
accepts  the  proposal  of  the  Union  Chairman, 
who  is  after  all  a  member  of  the  same  District 
Board !  In  1915  the  same  District  Board  resolved 
that  Chirala  should  not  have  a  municipality. 
Then  what  unearthly  things  have  occurred  in 
the  meanwhile  for  the  District  Board  to  change 
its  opinion  ?  Is  it  on  account  of  plague  infect- 
ion ?  We  have  discussed  about  it  before  and 
shown  the  futility  of  that  contention.  Is  it  to 
please  the  Higher  Authorities  ?  Let  the  Dis- 
trict Board  answer!  Jandrapet,  one  of  the 
plague  infected  areas  in  1918  was  in  the  old 
union*    Why  should  it  be  separated  and  made 


22     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

a  union  ?  Did  the  District  Board  recommend 
to  do  like  that  ?  Or  is  it  an  inexplicable  whim  of 
the  Presiding  Deity  of  the  "  prestige- ridden '' 
Bureaucracy  of  Madras  ? 

Even  taking  into  consideration  the  number  of 
houses  in  the  Chirala  Union,  we  do  not  find  it 
reasonable  to  convert  it  into  a  municipality.  The 
Old  Chirala  Union  consists  of  4,529  houses  of  all 
classes :  Bapatla  Union  possesses  2,245   houses 
and  Ponur  Union  2,180  houses.    The  total  num- 
ber of  houses  in  the  Chirala  Union  may  seem  to 
be  great  in  number  but  if  we  go  into  details  we 
find  the  reverse  of  it.    The  number  of  first  five 
classes  of  houses  in  Chirala- Perala   excluding 
those  of  Jandrapet  is  400,  while  Bapatla  has 
434,  and  Ponur  546.     We  see  that  the  number 
of  valuable  houses  in  Chirala-Perala  is  meagre 
compared  with  the  other  two  unions.  When,  on 
an  examination,  we  find  that  400  houses  (of  the 
five  classes)  constitute  Chirala-Perala  is  it  justifi- 
able to  force  a  municipality  upon  them  ?  Taking 
on  an  average  4  people  to  live  in  each  house,  and 
deducting  1,600  rich  men  from  a  total  popula- 
tion of  18,000,  we  see  that  16,400  poor  souls  live 
in  Chirala-Perala.    Did  the  Goverment  think 
of  this  aspect  of  the    question  at  all    before 
establishing  the  municipality  ?  Did  the  Sanitary 


PUBLICITY   BUREAU  ANSWERED      23 

Commissioner  recommend  to  constitute  a  muni- 
cipality taking  into  consideration  the  above  in- 
contestable statistical  figures  ?  Or  did  the 
Government  get,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  usual 
assent  of  the  District  Board  and  the  Union 
Chairman  to  convert  the  Union  into  a  Munici- 
pality ?  Let  us  admit  that  the  Government  pays 
scrupulous  and  respectful  regard  to  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  District  Board  and  Union 
Chairman  and  Sanitary  Commissioner.  On  the 
express  recommendation  of  the  Sanitary  Com- 
missioner and  District  Board,  the  Repalli  Union 
has  been  converted  into  a  municipality.  The 
Repalli  people  protested.  The  Government 
prohibited  meetings  under  Section  144,  Criminal 
Procedure  Code.  But  the  agitation  continued 
and  at  last  the  Minister  issued  a  notification 
that  the  Repalli  Municipality  would  be  abolished 
very  soon !  The  Minister  naively  speaks  out 
that  Repalli  has  no  urban  interests  and  it  is 
a  rural  area.  And  yet  the  Government  seems 
to  think  of  establishing  a  Munsiff's  Court  there  ! 
If  the  minister  acted  to  the  contrary  in  the 
question  of  Repalli  Muncipality,  the  constitu- 
tion of  which  was  recommended  by  the 
District  Board  and  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sioner, then  what  obstacles  are  in  his   way  to 


24     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

rescind  the  orders  in  the  case  of  Chirala-Perala  ? 
Oh  !  I  forget.  It  is  a  matter  of  prestige  ?  No 
sound  reason  can  be  given  for  enforcement  of  a 
municipality  on  Chirala-Perala  but  that  the 
minister  is  not  willing  to  yield  to  the  just 
agitation  of  the  people. 

In  this  righteous  struggle  up  till  now  eleven 
men  and  an  old  woman  who  refused  to  pay 
taxes  went  into  jail  for  20  days.  The  village 
karnam,  Mr.  Chirala  Rangayya  resigned  his 
post  and  suffered  a  rigorous  imprisonment  of  3 
months.  Two  more  are  at  present  in  jail.  We 
do  not  find  a  greater  mockery  of  justice  as  we 
witness  in  some  of  the  cases  of  Chirala  people. 
Some  of  the  people  have  been  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  ranging  from  days  to  months, 
and  they  are  told  by  the  presiding  officer  to  go 
home,  stay  there,  and  await  their  arrests.  One 
of  those  men  who  received  a  sentence  of 
imprisonment  wrote  to  the  presiding  officer 
that  he  wanted  to  go  to  Benares  on  a  visit  and 
asked  him  when  he  would  get  the  warrant  of 
arrest  so  that  after  he  served  the  term  of 
imprisonment  he  might  purge  the  sins  of  his 
stay  in  a  British  prison  with  a  bath  in  the 
Ganges  at  Benares. 

In  August  last  the  Minister  proposed  that  the 


PUBLICITY  BUREAU  ANSWERED      25 

villagers  of  Chirala-Perala,  retaining  the 
name  of  municipality  may  tax  themselves, 
Rs.  4,000  only  and  do  the  work  of  the  union  as 
before.  This  "  condescension  "  must  be  charac- 
terised as  hypocrisy,  pure  and  simple.  How 
could  the  work  of  a  municipality  be  carried  on 
with  the  collections  of  a  union  ?  This  kind  of 
tactics  is  certainly  unworthy  on  the  part  of  a 
minister  and  it  speaks  of  the  mentality  of  those 
who,  enjoying  pelf  and  authority,  worshipping 
the  Deity  of  Prestige,  override  mercilessly  the 
legitimate  rights  and  wishes  of  their  own 
countrymen. 

The  Bureau  alleges  that  ''  after  a  careful 
examination  of  the  situation  he  (the  minister) 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  agitation  for 
the  abolition  of  the  municipality  was  fictitious  " 
and  that  "  apparently  under  the  influence  of  the 
non-co-operators  and  some  of  the  rich  mer- 
chants "  the  people  agitated  for  the  dissolution 
of  the  municipality.  Whenever  and  whatever 
opposition  comes  to  Government  from  any 
quarter,  there  i  the  influence  of  some  non-co- 
operator  is  attributed  as  a  reason  for  it.  This 
has  become  a  matter  of  daily  occurrence  in 
India.  You  find  the  same  thing  at  Malabar,  at 
Contai  and  other  places.     We  have  grown  sick 


26     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

with  this  ever-repeated-but-contradicted  charge 
against  non-co-operators.  We  have  repudiated 
it  many  a  time  and  yet  the  Government  blindly 
asserts  the  repudiated  myth.  Suppose  the  non- 
co-operator  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  at  Chirala- 
Perala.  Why  is  not  the  Government  sensible 
enough  to  win  over  the  villagers  to  its  side  by 
the  abolition  of  the  municipality  ?  Why  did 
the  Government  repress  the  villagers  and  has 
driven  them  into  the  fold  of  the  non-co-opera- 
tor ?  The  non-co-operator  never  said  that  he 
would  boycott  the  municipality.  It  is  expressly 
laid  down  that  a  non-co-operator  should  contest 
the  seats  of  election  on  the  municipalities  and 
convert  them  into  powerful  organisations  of 
non-co-operation.  How  could  we  believe  that 
the  non-co-operator  is  the  mischief-maker  in 
Chirala-Perala  affair,  when  we  witness  the 
villagers  waiting  in  a  deputation  on  a  minister  ? 
For  a  non-co-operator  should  not  seek  help  from 
the  blood-stained  hands  of  an  alien  bureaucracy. 
To  say  that  non-co-operation  is  responsible  for 
the  Chirala-Perala  tragedy  is  blasphemous. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Hero  of  Chirala-Perala 

The  noble  hero  of  Chirala-Perala,  Ramdas 
Duggirala  Gopalakrishnayya,  was  born  at 
Peruganchiprole  (Nandigama  Taluk,  Kistna 
District).  His  father  was  a  teacher  and  poor 
young  Gopalakrishna  lost  his  mother  on  the 
third  day  of  his  birth.  Then  his  father  re- 
married but  he  too  expired  one-and-half  years 
after  the  re-marriage.  Young  Gopalakrishna 
has  been  brought  up  from  his  childhood  by  his 
grand-mother  who  tenderly  loves  the  boy  very 
much.  She  became  father  and  mother  to  him 
and  Gopalakrishna  in  return  for  her  deep 
affection  tries  his  best  to  make  her  happy  in  her 
last  days. 

Educated  by  his  uncle  he  studied  till  Matricu- 
lation Class  in  Town  High  School,  Guntur. 
He  failed  in  theMatriculation  examination  thrice 
owing  to  his  waywardness  and  sportive  com- 
pany.   Seeing  this  his  uncle  removed  him  to 


28     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Bapatla  where,  after  a  diligent  study,  he  passed 
the  Matriculation  of  the  Madras  University. 
Then  he  served  as  a  clerk  in  the  Taluk  Office 
at  Bapatla  for  a  year,  in  which  task  he  proved 
his  incapacity  to  do  the  drudgery.  He  wrote  a 
letter  to  his  guardian  in  strong  language  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  beg  in  streets  than  be  a 
clerk  in  a  Government  Office  where  independ- 
ence and  the  power  of  initiative  would  be  des- 
troyed by  the  spiritless  and  lifeless  routine  of 
the  day.  He  requested  his  guardian  to  give  him 
permission  to  resign  and  allow  him  to  take  up 
higher  studies.  Being  a  shrewd  man,  his 
guardian  did  not  force  him  to  be  a  clerk 
and  assented  to  his  proposal.  Gopalakrishna 
resigned,  joined  in  Intermediate  Class  in  the 
College  at  Guntur  but  did  not  prosecute  his 
studies  till  he  completed  his  course.  Giving  up 
his  studies  he  became  a  teacher  in  a  mission's 
school  and  afterwards  went  to  Scotland  to 
study  at  the  Edinburgh  University.  He  received 
the  M.A.  diploma  in  History  and  Economics 
and  tasting  the  pleasures  and  pains  of 
Western  life  he  returned  to  India  after  a  stay 
of  five  years.  On  his  arrival  he  was  appointed 
as  a  Professor  at  the  Training  College,  Rajah- 
mundry,   which   he  gave  up  owing  to  a  hitch 


THE  HERO  OF   CHIRALA-PERALA     29 

with  the  principal.  Then  he  joined  the  Andhra 
Jateeya  Kalasala  as  a  teacher  and  left  it  too 
after  some  time. 

He  had  an  idea  of  starting  a  paper  "  Sadhana  " 
and  for  this  purpose  he  bought  a  press  and 
obtained  a  security-less  declaration  both  for  the 
paper  and  the  press.  As  his  wife  was  a  sickly 
girl,  he  wanted  to  take  her  to  a  healthy  resort 
where  she  could  recoup  her  health  and  staying 
there  permanently  he  might  start  the  paper.. 
He  chose  Chirala  as  the  best  place  for  him  with 
healthy  climatic  conditions.  On  his  arrival  at 
Chirala  with  his  family,  everybody,  except  the 
doctor,  was  new  to  him.  Slowly  he  acquainted 
himself  with  hisneighours  and  became 

"        to  all  the  country  dear. 

And  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year; 

Remote  from  towns  he  ran  his  godly  race. 

Nor  e'er  had  changed,  nor  wished  to  change,  his 
place ; 

Unpractised  he  to  fawn,  or  seek  for  power, 

By  doctrines  fashioned  to  the  varying  hour; 

Far  other  aims  his  heart  had  learned  to  prize, 

More  skilled  to  raise  the  wretched  than  to  rise; 

His  house  was  known  to  all  the  vagrant  train; 

He  chid  their  wanderings,   but  relieved  their 
pain ; 

The  long-remember'd  beggar  was  his  guesti 


30     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Whose  beard  descending  swept  his  agedbreaet; 
The  ruined  spendthrift,  now  no  longer  proud, 
Claimed    kindred    there,   and   had  his    claims 
allowed ; 


Pleased  with  his  guests,  the  good  man  learned 

to  glow, 
And  quite  forgot  their  vices  in  their  woe  ; 
Careless  their  merits  or  their  faults  to  scan, 
His  pity  gave  ere  charity  began. 


And,  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies. 
He   tried     enchantment,     reproved   each   dull 
delay, 

Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way." 
Everything  vs^ent  on  quite  happily  when,  the 
Madras  Government  suddenly  declared  to  con- 
vert the  Chirala  Union  into  a  Municipality. 
The  villagers  looked  up  to  Gopalakrishna  who 
became  their  friend,  guide,  and  philosopher  in 
their  distress.  He  advised  the  people  to  petition 
to  the  Government,  spoke  personally  with  the 
Government  officials,  in  fact,  he  did  his  best  to 
do  everything  in  his  power  both  to  help  the 
people    and    the  Government  to  be   on  good 


THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA      31 

terms.  But  the  Government  persisted  and  the 
municipality  was  established.  He  advised  the 
people  to  boycott  the  municipality  and  be  non- 
violent in  their  struggle.  He  impressed  on  their 
minds  on  all  occasions  the  necessity  of  non- 
violence ;  and  knowing  pretty  well  the  human 
nature  he  organised  Ranidandu  (  "  A  Peaceful 
Army " )  whose  duty  is  to  do  social  service 
to  their  brethren  and  to  maintain  peace  in  the 
villages.  Through  this  organisation  he  prevent- 
ed the  people  losing  their  patience  from  tha 
provoking  pin-pricks  of  the  Bureaucracy. 
At  meetings 

"With  meek  and  unaffected  grace, 
His  looks  adorned  the  venerable  place ; 
Truth  from  his  lips  prevailed  with  double  sway 
And  fools,  who  came  to  scoff,  remained  to  pray. 
The  service  past,  around  the  pious  man, 
With  steady  zeal,  each  honest  rustic  ran ; 
E'en  children  followed  with  endearing  wile, 
And  plucked  his  gown,  to  share  the  good  mans  ' 

smile. 
His  ready  smile  permits  warmth  expressed  ; 
Their   welfare   pleased    him,   and   their  cares 

distressed .' 
To  them  his  heart,  his  Jove,    his  griefs   were 

given, 
But  all  his  serious  thoughts  had  rest  in  heaven." 


32     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

When  the  fight  with  the  Government  took  a 
serious  turn  and  when  it  came  to  a  question  of 
application  of  civil  disobedience  or  Desatyag  he 
thought  over  the  matter  for  a  fortnight  or  more- 
revolving  in  his  mind  the  serious  nature  of  the 
step  he  would  have  to  take  in  the  matter.  He 
felt  diffident  about  the  patience  of  the  people  if 
their  properties  would  be  attached  before  their 
very  eyes,  and  resolved  to  carry  out  Desatyag, 
He  consulted  the  elders  of  the  town  and  at  last 
definitely  declared  for  Desatyag,  At  his  call, 
men,  women,  and  children  gathering  their  pro- 
perties, some  carrying  on  their  heads,  some 
on  carriages,  quitted  the  villages,  as  though 
plague  infected  the  villages,  to  live  in  huts  out- 
side the  outskirts  of  the  municipality.  It  is  a 
sight  for  Gods  to  see  those  unhappy  people 
leaving  their  sweet  homes  to  worship  freely  at 
the  pure  shrine  of  self-determination. 

"  Good   Heaven  !  What  sorrows  gloomed  that 

parting  day, 
That  called  them  from  their  native  walks  away: 
When  the  poor  exiles  ;  every  pleasure  pasti 
Hung    round   the  bowers,   and  fondly    looked 

their  last, 
And  took  a  long  farewell." 
Amidstthat  noble  band,  there  were  men  'with, 
hoary  hair,'  and 


THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA     33 

"  There  was  woman's  fearless  eye, 

Lit  by  her  deep  love's  truth  ; 

There  was  manhood's  brow  serenely  highi 

And  the  fiery  heart  of  youth." 

Gopalakrishna  appealed  to  the  rich  men  of 
Andhradesh  to  help  the  Chirala-Perala  souls 
with  money  so  that  they  might  spend  it  in  con- 
structing huts  and  live  an  unhampered,  free  life. 
The  Andhras  responded  to  the  appeal  generous- 
ly and  the  Andhra,  Provincial  Congress  Com- 
mittee voted  Ps.  3,000.  A  Committee  was  form- 
ed to  maintain  order  and  peace  in  the  colony 
and  everyone  obeyed  the  injunctions  of  the 
Committee. 

On  24th  September  last  the  Andhra  Con- 
ferences were  held  at  Berhampore.  Gopala- 
krishna went  there  to  bring  "  Sanjivi  "  (money) 
to  his  Chirala-Perala  brethren.  Alleging  that 
he  made  violent  speeches,  the  District  Collector 
of  Ganjam  ordered  him  under  Section  144, 
Criminal  Procedure  Code  not  to  deliver  speeches 
till  one  month  in  his  jurisdiction.  But  Gopala- 
krishna fearlessly  disobeyed  the  said  order  on 
29th  September  giving  intimation  of  it  to  the 
Collector  a  day  before.  At  last  on  1st  October 
he  was    arrested  at  the  Berhampore  Railway 

*Vide  Appendix  III. 
3 


34     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Station  and  his  trial  was  held  at  Chicacole 
Koad.  The  Collector  asked  Gopalakrishna  to 
give  security  and  he,  having  refused,  was  sen- 
tenced to  one  year's  simple  imprisonment. 

The  news  of  his  arrest  flashed  across  the 
country  with  lightning  rapidity  and  the  whole 
country  congratulated  him  from  many  plat- 
forms. He  sent  messages  to  his  brethren  at 
Chirala-Perala  to  continue  the  struggle  peaceful- 
ly to  the  end  and  he  would  be  praying  for  their 
success  during  his  stay  in  the  gaol.  He  sent 
another  message  to  his  countrymen  that  they 
should  be  prepared  even  to  die  and  establish 
Swaraj  before  the  end  of  this  year.  The  Chirala- 
Perala  people  congratulated  him  and  resolved 
to  maintain  his  family  till  he  would  return 
back  free. 

Gopalakrishna  is  thirty  summers  old.  A 
stalwart  man  as  he  is,  he  wears  pure  Khadder 
dhoty,  a  Khadder  turban,  and  beads  of  rudraksha 
around  his  neck.  He  looks  like  Ramdas  (the 
servant  of  Rama.).  He  sings  poems  and 
slokams  in  praise  of  Shri  Ramachandra 
and  at  all  meetings  he  attends  he  induces  the 
people  to  give  up  the  western  method  of  shout- 
ing, and  cry  "  Shrimad  Rama  Ramana 
Govindo  Hari/'  (Let  Creation,  Protection  and 


THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA     35 

Destruction  go  on.)  He  teaches  Bhakti  cult  to 
the  young  men  and  women  in  the  Andhradesh 
and  picturing  to  them  the  noble  personality  of 
Hanuman  he  appeals  to  the  people  to  be  true 
-servants  of  the  country.  He  is  humour  incar- 
nate and  everybody,  who  has  heard  him,  must 
confess  he  has  been  a  great  source  of  pleasure 
to  the  people.  He  used  to  keep  them  laughing 
so  that  they  might  not  become  morbid  and 
desperate  when  they  think  of  their  slavish  con- 
dition of  life.  He  believes  that  the  duty  of 
a  leader  is  to  go  forward,  risking  all  hazards 
even  to  his  life  :  and  this  is  the  reason  why 
when  some  of  his  friends  have  expressed  their 
doubts  about  non- violent  aspect  of  the  struggle 
in  Palnad  forest-affairs,  he  reprimanded  thus : 

**  Your  duty  is  to  see  that  no  violence  is  done. 
You  must  risk  even  your  life  to  maintain  non- 
violence. If  the  people  assure  you  that  they  be 
non-violent  then  you  think  of  going  to  Palnad 
and  taking  up  the  leadership ! !  That  is  the 
way  with  the  cowards.  When  you  doubt  there 
occurs  violence  go  and  try  your  level  best  that  no 
violence  is  done.  Then  only  you  are  fit  to  be 
a  leader  of  the  people."  •; 

He  was  awarded  the  title  of  Andhra  Ratna 
at  the  Guntur  District  Conference.   He    wrote 


36     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

a  book  jointly  with  Dr.  A.  K.  Coomaraswamy 
on  Dancing. 

When  I  was  travelling  with  Gopalakrishna 
to  Berhampore  during  the  month  of  September 
last  to  visit  the  Andhra  Conferences  he 
divulged  to  me  some  of  his  secret  thoughts- 
and  opinions  on  men  and  matters  in  a 
frank,  sincere  and  appealing  manner.  He  con- 
fessed, with  tears  in  his  eyes,  he  had  done  many 
sins  in  his  life  but  now  he  felt  happy  havings 
"  purged  away  the  foreign  matter."  He  has- 
done  his  duty  to  his  country  and  has  become 
its  servant.  He  expressed  to  me  that  property 
is  murder  and  to  down- trod  the  poor  is  a  crime 
against  humanity. 

When  he  was  going  to  Trichinopoly  to  be  locat-- 
ed  in  the  gaol  there,  I  met  him  at  Bezwada 
Station,  and  he,  taking  his  photo  from  me 
signed  his  autograph  with  a  smile.  He  appeal- 
ed to  his  friends  to  take  care  of  his  Chirala- 
Perala  brethren,  to  be  brave,  and  face  even 
death  for  the  sake  of  establishing  Swaraj  before 
the  month  of  December  ends-  He  humourously 
asked  his  friends  to  get  jail  certificates  at  an 
early  date.  As  the  train  steamed  out  of  the 
station,  I  saw  him  standing  like  the  obedient 
Hanuman,  hands-folded,  smiling  bidding  good 


THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA     37 

bye  to  us  all.  As  one  of  his  lovely  opponents 
remarked  to  me,  "A  great  and  important 
figure  quits  the  stage  of  Andhra  life  and  we 
feel  his  absence  for  sometime  to  come."  Even 
his  worst  enemies  had  nothing  to  say  against 
him  but  pour  their  torrents  of  mild  praise  on 
him  out  of  their  jealous  hearts. 

Ere  long,  I  hope,  he  will  come  out  with  a 
philosophy  of  his  own  to  teach  his  countrymen 
and  may  God  bless  him  with  long  and  healthy 
life  so  that  he  might  successfully  complete  the 
work  allotted  unto  him  by  his  Creator. 


EPILOGUE 

In  these  pages  I  have  traced  the  course  of  the^ 
noble  struggle  till  Gopalakrishna's  arrest  and 
imprisonment.  I  will  deal  in  the  second  part  of 
the  book  with  the  new  prosecutions  that  are 
going  on  and  in  what  manner  the  fight  ends. 

Having  been  masters  at  applying  the  insi- 
dious policy  of  Divide  at  impera,  the  Govern- 
ment at  the  present  moment  are  trying  their 
best  to  prevail  upon  a  portion  of  the  population 
to  return  to  the  deserted  villages,  now  giving 
hopes  of  appointments,  then  by  gentle  pursua- 
sion,  and  lastly  by  threats.  The  accused  in  the 
new  prosecutions  are  determined  to  enter  the 
gaols  rather  than  give  taxes  to  a  municipality 
enforced  on  them  at  the  point  of  a  bayonet. 
The  Government,  as  is  evident,  believe  in  re- 
pression as  their  sole  remedy  and  think  that  if 
they  punish  the  influential  people  in  Chirala- 
Perala  (new  colony),  the  remaining  population 
could  be  prevailed  upon  to  come  back  to  the 
deserted  villages.    We  cannot  help  feeling  pity 


EPILOGUE  39 

at  the  perverted  mentality  of  the  Bureaucracy 
for  probably  they  do  not  know  that  repression 
is  a  strong  dose  to  make  the  people  determined 
to  fight  to  the  end.  The  Government  stand 
condemned  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  for 
the  atrocious  manner  in  which  they  are  treat- 
ing 18,000  poor,  wretched  souls  without  a  dram 
of  pity  on  them.  We  have  heard  the  tall-talk  of 
justice  and  equity  for  a  long  time  and  are  dis- 
gusted to  see  it  tomtom ed  by  the  Viceroy,  the 
Ex-chief  Justice  of  England,  without  witnessing 
it  in  the  practical  field.  What  will  he  say  if 
he  sees  five  thousand  men,  homeless  and  wretch- 
ed, willing  to  die  to  maintain  their  birth-right 
of  self-determination,  yet  starving  and  prepar- 
ing themselves  to  front  with  joy  the  coming 
awful  winter  cold  ?  What  will  he  say  if  he 
sees  five  thousand  mothers  living  in  misery  and 
squalor,  struggling  to  earn  enough  to  feed  their 
little  children  ?  What  will  he  say  if  he  sees 
five  thousand  children  giving  up  their  sportly 
lives,  wearing  out  their  strength,  and  nursing 
hatred  towards  those  who  blasted  their  lives  ? 
\Yhat  will  he  say  if  he  sees  a  thousand  of  old 
people,  cast  off  and  helpless,  waiting  for  death 
to  take  them  from  their  earthly  troubles  ?  What 
will   he  say  if  he  sees  fifteen  thousand  men 


40     THE  CHmALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

women,  and  children,  who  desiring  not  to 
submit  to  an  unjust  and  enforced  measure,  toil 
every  hour  they  can  stand  and  see  for  just 
enough  to  keep  them  alive,  who  are  condemned 
to  monotony  and  weariness,  to  hunger  and 
misery,  and  to  heat  and  cold  ?  Has  Justice  run 
amok  in  the  case  of  these  helpless  people  ? 
Have  those  in  power  no  hearts  to  sympathise 
with  and  allieviate  the  sufferings  of  these  miser- 
able people  ?  Do  they  not  feel  for  these  unhappy 
villagers  while  living  in  their  palaces,  rioting  in 
luxury  and  extravagance — "  such  as  no  words 
can  describe,  as  makes  the  imagination  reel 
and  stagger,  makes  the  soul  grow  sick  and 
faint  ?  Cannot  the  authorities  abolish  the  muni- 
cipality and  yield  to  the  righteous  agitation  of 
the  people  once  in  their  life  ?  What  stands  in 
their  way  to  dissolve  the  municipality  which 
nobody  requires  ?  Do  they  fear  that  they  lose 
their  prestige  ?  Then  woe  unto  those  who  wor- 
ship the  devil — 

''  Blood  on  his  heavenly  altar  flows, 

Hell's  burning  incense  fills  the  air, 

And  Death  attests  in  street  and  lane,  ^ 

The  hideous  glory  of  his  reign.'* 

We  believe  the  Local  Governmeut  will  not 
retrace  its  steps  in  this  affair  for  we  do  not  see 


EPILOGUE  41 

any  signs  til]  the  present  moment.  The  whole 
matter  rests  on  a  "  Justice-loving "  Viceroy. 
If  he  really  believes  in  truth  and  justice,  let 
him  get  down  from  the  Elysian  heights  of 
Simla  and  personally  undertake  investigation 
into  this  tragedy.  Let  him  judge  for  himself 
the  righteousness  or  otherwise  of  his  lieutenants* 
work  and  let  him  undo  the  mischief  that  is  done. 
If  even  he  remains  mute  and  dumb,  then  we, 
mortals,  must  bid  adieu  to  the  higher  authorities 
and  be  prepared  to  die  in  maintenance  of  our 
legitimate  rights  and  liberties.'  We  must  leave 
ourselves  into  the  hands  of  the  Almighty  and 
grope  on  in  the  darkness  of  misery  and  poverty 
exclaiming,    O  !  Autocracy  ! 

*'  Thou  curst  by  Heaven's  decree, 
How  ill  exchanged  are  things  like  these  for 
thee! 

How  do  thy  potions,  with  insidious  joy, 
Diffuse  their  pleasures  only  to  destroy ! 
Kingdoms  by  thee,  to  sickly  greatness  growni 
Boast  of  a  florid  vigour  not  their  own, 
At   every   draught  more   large  and   large  they 
grow, 

A.  bloated  mass  of  rank,  unwieldy  woe ; 
Till  sapped  their  strength,   and  every  part  un- 
sound, 


42     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Down,  down   they  sinki  and  spread  a    ruin 

round." 

Yes!    Autocracy  will  never   listen  to    the 

counsels  of  History,  ranges  itself  against  the 

people,  digs  its  own  grave,  and  buries  itself 

"  unwept,  unhonoured,  and  unsung."  • 


APPENDIX  I 

THE  CHIRALA  MUNICIPALITY 
The  Publicity  Bureau  Statement 

The  supersession  of  the  Chirala  Municipality 
has  excited  considerable  comment  in  the  news- 
papers. The  public  may  like  to  know  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  the  place  was  constituted 
as  a  Municipality  and  the  reasons  why  it 
was  decided  to  supersede  the  municipal  council. 

Chirala  is  the  largest  town  in  the  Guntur 
District  next  to  Guntur  itself.  At  the  census  of 
1911  it  had  a  population  of  22,000.  It  has  a 
flourishing  weaving  and  dyeing  industry  and  it 
is  also  one  of  the  biggest  trade  centres  in  the  dis- 
trict. The  place,  however,  is  very  congested  and 
the  Deputy  Sanitary  Commissioner  who  visited 
the  town  in  July  1914,  severely  commented  on 
the  insanitary  condition  of  the  town  and  strong- 
ly recommended  the  conversion  of  the  Union 
into  a  Municipality  as  the  only  possible  means 


44     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

of  improving  its  sanitation,  the  resources  of  the 
Union  being  quite  inadequate  for  the  purpose. 
In  January  J  915,  the  District  Board  discussed 
the  question  of  converting  it  into  a  Municipality 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  proposal 
was  premature.  The  Government  did  not 
therefore  accept  the  recommendation  of  the 
Deputy  Sanitary  Commissioner. 

In  1917  plague  broke  out  in  a  virulent  form 
in  Chirala  and  spread  to  all  the  neighbouring 
places  in  the  taluk  and  even  Ongole  was  infect- 
ed. In  1918  the  Union  Chairman  himself 
reopened  the  question  and  submitted  a  formal 
proposal  for  the  conversion  of  the  Union  into  a 
municipality.  The  Taluk  Board  discussed  the 
matter  at  a  meeting  held  in  June  1918  and 
approved  of  the  proposal.  Meanwhile  some  of 
the  rich  merchants  of  Chirala  strongly  protest- 
ed against  the  change  and  so  the  question  was 
re- discussed  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  Taluk 
Board  in  August  1918.  The  Taluk  Board  by  a 
large  majority  adhered  to  its  original  resolution. 

The  subject  was  placed  before  the  District 
Board  in  September  1918  and  the  Board  unani- 
mously supported  the  proposal,  although  three 
years  before  it  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  premature.     The  Government  carefully 


THE  CHIRALA  MUNICIPALITY        45 

considered  the  objections  raised  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  place.  Tiie  population  of 
Chirala  was  more  than  that  of  24  other  towns 
which  were  under  municipal  administration, 
and  it  was  in  every  way  a  more  advanced  place 
than  several  municipalities.  The  resources  of  the 
Union  were  quite  inadequate  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  sanitation  of  the  place,  which  was 
becoming  a  breeding  place  of  epidemics.  Plague 
had  already  broken  out  and  the  neighbouring 
places  also  had  suffered,  because  the  Chirala 
Union  could  not  keep  Chirala  in  a  sanitary  con- 
dition. After  a  consideration  of  all  these 
circumstances  the  Government  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  opinion  of  the  Taluk  Board 
and  the  District  Board  should  prevail.  The 
town  was  therefore  formally  constituted  as  a 
Municipality  in  November  1919. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  place  presumably 
accepted  the  decision  of  the  Government  for 
there  was  no  further  agitation  against  the 
Municipality  until  September  1920,  when  some 
non-co-operators  took  advantage  of  the  natural 
reluctance  of  the  people  to  pay  additional 
taxes  and  revived  the  agitation  against  the 
municipality.  Ten  out  of  the  twelve  councillors 
resigned    and    municipal    administration    was 


46     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

brought  to  a  standstill.  The  Hon.  the  Minister 
for  Local  Self  Government  himself  visited  the 
place,  discussed  the  situation  with  the  leading 
residents  of  the  place,  and  made  personal 
enquiries  into  their  alleged  grievances.  He  also 
offered  to  exempt  agricultural  cattle  and  land 
from  municipal  taxation.  This  should  have 
satisfied  the  poorer  residents  of  the  place  but 
apparently  under  the  influence  of  the  non-co- 
operators  and  some  of  the  rich  merchants  and 
money-lenders,  the  offer  was  rejected.  After  a 
careful  examination  of  the  situation  he  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  agitation  for  the 
abolition  of  the  municipality  was  fictitious  and 
that  the  town  should  continue  to  be  a  munici- 
pality in  the  interests  of  public  health.  The 
Government,  therefore,  decided  to  supersede 
the  municipal  council  and  appoint  a  paid 
officer  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  council  and 
its  chairman. 

If  the  Government  had  decided  otherwise, 
what  would  be  the  alternative?  The  Govern- 
ment might  abolish  the  municipality  and  res- 
tore the  Union,  but  this  would  not  solve  the 
difficulties  that  gave  rise  to  the  proposal  for  the 
constitution  of  a  Municipality.  Money  has  to 
be  found  for  the  improvement  of  the  sanitation 


THE  CHIRALA  MUNICIPALITY         47 

of  the  town  not  merely  in  the  interests  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Chirala,  but    also  of  those  of 
the  neighbouring  places ;  for,  if  any  epidemic 
breaks  out  at  Chirala  it  is  sure  to  spread  to  the 
neighbouring  villages.    The  ordinary  resources 
of  the  Union  are  quite  insufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose and  either  the  Government  would  be  com- 
pelled to  extend  the  provisions  of  the  District 
Municipalities    Act    relating    to    taxation    to 
the  Union  or  the  Taluk  Board  would   have  to 
supply  the  money.     If  the  former  course  were 
adopted,   the   ratepayers    would   have  to   pay 
exactly  the   same  taxes  that  they  now  do  but 
they  would  not  have  an  independent  status  or 
the  other  advantages  which   a  municipal   ad- 
ministration   implies.    This   would    hardly   be 
acceptable  to  them,  for  the  main  grievances  of 
the  people  is  against  the  additional  taxes.     As 
regards  the  second  course,  it  is  for  the  Taluk 
Board  to  decide  whether  it  should  pay  for  all 
the   conveniences   that  the   people  of  Chirala 
enjoy.    The  poverty  of  Taluk   Boards  is  well- 
knowm  and  the  only  way  by  which  they  can 
find  money  is  by  the  levy  of  an  additional  cess 
on  land.     The  views  of  the  Taluk   Board  are 
indicated   in  the  following  extracts  from  the 
letter  of  the  President  of  the  Ongole  Taluk 


48     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Board,  dated  23rd  August  1918,  in  which  the 
Board's  resolution  strongly  recommending  the 
conversion  of  the  Union  into  a  Municipality  was 
conveyed  to  the  District  Board. 

"Taxes  collected  elsewhere  are  now  being  spent 
on  hospitals,  schools,  roads,  markets,  etc.,  in 
Chirala  town  where  the  inhabitants  can  afford 
to  look  to  their  wants  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  be  made  to  pay  for  their 
own  comforts.  For  the  above  reasons  the  Taluk 
Board  strongly  recommends  the  conversion  of 
the  union  into  a  Municipality." 

It  will  be  observed  from  what  has  been  stated 
above  that  the  point  involved  is  not  whether  a 
municipality  should  be  forced  on  Chirala  but 
whether  the  Taluk  Board  or  the  residents  of 
Chirala  should  pay  for  the  hospital  and  the 
other  conveniences  which  they  enjoy  and  for 
the  improvement  of  the  sanitation  of  Chirala' 
which  is  an  urgent  necessity.  Should  Chirala 
and  its  rich  merchants,  who  are  demanding  the 
abolition  of  the  Municipality,  pay  for  those 
advantages  to  the  town  or  should  the  poor  ryot 
outside  Chirala  for  them?  That  is  the  issue 
involved  in  this  agitation  for  the  abolition  of 
the  Municipality. 


APPENDIX  II. 

THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA 

A  REPLY  TO  THE  PUBLrCITY  BUREAU'S 
STATEMENT 

1.  The  allegations  of  the  Publicity  Bureau 
are  incorrect  in  several  respects  and  are  calcu- 
lated to  mislead  the  public  regarding  the 
attitude  of  the  people  of  Chirala  towards  the 
constitution  and  continuance  of  the  Municipa- 
lity. 

2.  Chirala  is  not  a  single  town.  The  old 
Union  consisted  of  four  villages — Chirala, 
Perala,  Jandrapet,  and  Old  Chirala.  Perala  is 
about  a  mile,  Jandrapet  about  21/^  miles,  and 
Old  Chirala  about  two  miles  from  Chirala 
Proper. 

3.  The  i  statement  about  population  is  also 
incorrect.  The  population  of  all  these  places 
put  together  according  to  the  census  of  J  911  was 
18,618  and  not  22,000,  in  1919-20  it  was  only 
18,600. 

5 


50     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

4.  Of  the  four  villages  only  the  first  two  were 
constituted  into  a  Municipality  their  population 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Municipality  being 
13,500 ;  It  is  widely  believed  that  the  other  two 
places  as  well  as  a  few  houses  in  Chirala  Proper 
were  excluded  from  the  municipal  limits  in 
deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  American  Mission- 
aries who  possess  extensive  interests  therein. 

5.  Chirala  Municipality  is  not  the  second 
town  in  the  district.  It  stands  fourth  in  the 
list,  Tenali  with  a  population  of  about  23,000 
and  Ongol&  with  a  population  of  about  16,000, 
coming  second  and  third  respectively, 

6.  Chirala  is  not  a  flourishing  trade-centre. 
Inconsiderable  at  any  time,  its  trades  in  cotton 
fabrics  declined  during  and  after  the  war. 

7.  As  regards  the  sanitation  it  is  not  a 
congested  place.  It  possesses  "a  typically  porous 
sandy  soil  "  which  absorbs  the  drainage  water. 
Very  good  water  is  available  for  drinking  and 
other  purposes  during  all  seasons  of  the  year 
and  never  was  any  scarcity  felt.  It  has  a  cool 
and  salubrious  climate.  Plague  was  imported 
into  Chirala  in  1918,  1919  as  into  so  many  other 
towns  big  and  small  in  the  Andhradesa.  It 
did  not  recur  in  subsequent  years.  The  first 
town     to    be    affected    in     Andhradesa     was 


THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA    51 

Bezwada  which  has  been  a  well- equipped 
Municipality  for  over  40  years.  For  the  matter 
of  that,  it  has  been  prevalent  in  large  cities 
like  Poona,  Bombay,  Hyderabad  and  Bangalore 
for  years  continuously  in  spite  of  the  existence 
of  efficient  municipal  councils.  So  the  reason 
assigned  by  the  Bureau  for  the  imperative  need 
of  forcing  a  Municipality  on  Chirala  is  un- 
tenable, 

8.  As  regards  official  and  non-official  opinion 
about  the  fitness  of  Chirala  to  be  constituted 
into  a  Municipality,  the  Bureau's  failure  to  refer 
to  the  opinion  of  the  Hon.  N.  E.  Marjoribanks, 
I.C.S.,  is  significant.  Before  the  War,  he  report- 
ed against  such  constitution  and  the  District 
Board  endorsed  his  view  in  1915.  Evidently, 
no  change  in  the  natural  situation  of  Chirala 
or  its  attendant  advantages  had  occurred  to 
justify  the  change  in  the  Board's  view  in  1918. 
Quite  possibly,  it  registered  the  Decrees  of 
superior  authority.  In  any  case,  the  views  of 
the  semi-officialised  Taluk  and  District  Boards 
do  not  truly  represent  the  views  of  the  people, 
and  in  this  particular  case,  their  decision  can 
not  carry  much  weight  inasmuch  as  they  were 
anxious  to  shift  their  pecuniary  responsibility 
in  the  matter  of  roads,  hospital  and  education 


52     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

on  to  the  shoulders  of  the  poor  inhabitants  of 
Chirala.  Last  year  the  Sub-Collector  of  Ongole 
recommended  its  abolition. 

9.    That  Chirala  is  a  poor  place  is  evident 
from  the  following  figures ; — 

I.  The  average  annual  tax  in  the  Union  was 
Re.  1-5-9  per  house  and  about  As,  4  per  head 
while  that  in  the  adjacent  Union  of  Vetapalem 
with  a  population  of  10,582  was  Re.  1-5-9  per 
house  and  Re.  0-5-4  per  head,  and  that  in  Pennur 
it  was  Rs.  1-14-4  and  Re.  0-7-10.  The  average 
for  the  Unions  in  the  district  was  Rs.  2  per 
house  and  As.  8  per  head. 

II.  Of  the  4,529  houses,  in  Chirala  Union,, 
only  200  were  classed  in  the  first  four  classes 
liable  to  pay  Rs.  4  per  annum  and  above 
and  the  total  tax  realised  from  them  was  only 
Rs.  1,177.  2,548  houses  were  entered  in  classes  8 
and  9  liable  to  pay  As.  4  and  As.  8  per  year, 
fetching  altogether  Rs.  862-4-0. 

III.  About  90  per  cent,  of  the  population 
live  by  dyeing  and  weaving  which  bring  them 
a  bare  living  wage. 

IV.  The  agricultural  lands  are  poor.  Of 
manufacturing  activities,  there  is  only  one  rice 
factory  and  nothing  else. 

10.    The    Municipality    was    established    in 


THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA   53 

January  1920  and  not  in  November  1919,  The 
Government  announced  its  intention  of  making 
Chirala  a  Municipality  on  16th  September  1919. 
The  people  protested  by  telegram  on  16th 
October  1919  and  followed  it  up  by  a  memorial 
which  exhaustively  dealt  with  the  situation 
and  afforded  complete  proof  of  the  undesira- 
bility  of  converting  it  into  a  Municipality. 
The  Union  Chairman  who  is  reported  to  have 
sent  up  a  resolution  in  favour  of  the  conversion 
was  a  man  hated  of  the  people.  The  people 
intimated  to  the  Government  their  opinion  of 
this  person  in  strongly  worded  telegrams.  He 
and  the  members  of  the  Union  over  which  he 
presided  were  nominated  by  the  officials  and 
very  naturally  echoed  their  views. 

11.  When  in  spite  of  popular  opposition,  the 
Government  chose  to  establish  the  Municipality, 
the  people  formed  themselves  into  a  ratepayers' 
association  on  18th  February  1920  to  mitigate 
the  rigour  of  the  municipal  visitation.  Their  first 
official  act  was  to  protect  against  the  heavy  tax- 
ation. The  Chairman  and  the  Councillors,  all  of 
whom  were  nominated  by  the  Government, 
levied  very  high  raies. While  the  income  from  the 
Union  consisting  of  four  villages  with  a  popula- 
tion of  18,600  was  about  Rs.  4,700  for  the  year 


54      THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

1919-20,  the  budgeted  income  for  the  year 
1919-20,  of  the  newly  constituted  Municipality 
consisting  of  only  two  villages  with  a  popula- 
tion of  13,500  was  Rs.  33,136  and  actual  collec- 
tion for  the  first  half-year  came  up  to  the  huge 
figure  of  Rs.  20,500.  While  the  actual  expendi- 
ture in  the  Union  for  the  same  period  was 
Rs,  4,200,  the  estimated  expenditure  of  the 
Municipality  was  Rs.  29,136  and  the  actual 
expenditure  for  the  first  half-year  was  Rs.  8,008 
which  shows  that  the  Municipality  added 
enormously  to  the  burdens  without  causing  any 
material  improvement  in  the  people's  condition. 
Out  of  this  expenditure  of  Rs.  8008,  the  costly 
office  establishment  and  miscellaneous  charges 
which  were  the  inevitable  accompaniments  of 
the  Municipality  consumed  Rs.  2,668  while 
public  w^orks  and  lighting  were  starved  with  a 
sum  of  Rs.  550  and  the  rest  was  paid  for  items 
of  expenditure  hitherto  borne  by  the  Taluk  and 
District  Boards.  The  total  amount  proposed  to 
be  spent  on  education  was  only  Rs.  1,030  which 
could  cover  the  cost  of  but  one  out  of  the  13 
schools  in  the  place.  There  w^as  already  in 
existence  a  private  middle  school.  Thus  the 
Municipality  did  not  add  even  to  the  educa- 
tional facilities  of  Chirala. 


THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA    55 

12.  The  very  fact  admitted  by  the  Bureau 
that  there  are  24  Municipalities  with  a  popula- 
tion smaller  than  that  of  Chirala  shows  that 
both  the  authorities  and  the  people  considered 
Chirala  Union  unfit  for  municipal  administra- 
tion for  a  long  time,  and  for  that  very  reason 
did  not  interfere  with  the  Union  which  had 
been  in  existence  for  over  35  years.  The  census 
report  of  1911  shows  that  at  least  12  towns  with 
a  population  larger  than  that  of  Old  Chirala 
Union  were  not  made  Municipalities.  This 
shows  that  population  is  not  the  sole  or  main 
criterion  in  the  establishment  of  a  Municipality. 

13.  As  regards  medical  aid  of  which  much 
capital  is  sought  to  be  made  by  the  Bureau,  the 
local  hospital  was  not  intended  mainly  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Chirala.  It  served  the  needs  of 
several  surrounding  villages.  The  Ongole 
Taluk  Board  had  to  its  credit  only  three  or  four 
hospitals  in  the  two  taluks  under  their  jurisdic- 
tion. In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Taluk  Boards 
have  not  established  itinerant  hospitals,  the 
hospitals  established  by  them  should  be  located 
in  some  place  or  other  and,  if  in  this  particular 
instance,  the  'Taluk  Board  pitched  upon 
Chirala  '  it  did  not  do  so  at  the  request  of  the 
people  of  Chirala  and  there  is  nothing  inequita- 


56     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

ble  in  charging  the  cost  to  the  Taluk  Board, 
The  inequity  on  the  other  hand,  would  lie  in 
charging  it  to  Chirala  solely.  The  Chirala 
people  would  gladly  get  rid  of  the  hospital  if  it 
is  to  be  had  only  on  condition  of  maintaining  a 
Municipality  at  the  enormous  cost  of  Rs.  40,000 
per  year. 

14.  The  main  road  that  serves  Perala  and 
Chirala  Proper  is  a  portion  of  the  Trunk  Road 
that  passes  between  Bapatla  and  Ongole  and  is 
not  specially  laid  for  these  two  villages-  The 
remarks  of  the  Taluk  Board  President  relied 
upon  by  the  Bureau  in  this  respect  are  wholly 
beside  the  point. 

15.  The  Publicity  Bureau  tries  hard  to  make 

out  that  the  inhabitants  meekly  submitted  to 

the    Municipality    till    some    non-co-operators 

bent     on      mischief      disturbed      the      placid 

contentment  of  the  masses,  and  set  afloat  an 

unreasonable     agitation.    There     is     nothing 

strange  in  this  sort  of  attitude  as  the  Publicity 

Bureau   is   set  up  for   the  express  purpose   of 

bolstering  up  the  official  view.     The  fact  that 

nearly  the  whole  demand  for  the  first  half-year 

of  1920  was  paid  up  by  the  people  may  tend  to 

support  the  Bureau's  view.     But  the   payment 

was  necessitated  in  order  to  acquire  a  right  of 


THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA    57 

appeal  against  the  oppressive  taxation,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  several  appeals  were  filed. 
The  ratepayer's  association  sent  up  protest 
after  protest  and  waited  in  deputation  on  the 
ex-officio  Chairman  who  paid  no  heed  to  them 
all.  In  addition  to  this  the  people  were 
prosecuted  for  merely  trivial  acts  of  nuisance 
and  heavily  fined  by  the  Second-Class  Magiste- 
rial Bench.  The  dyeing  yards  which  had  been 
in  use  from  time  immemorial  were  objected  to 
by  the  Chairman  and  the  people  were  asked  to 
prepare  their  dye-stuffs  far  away  from  their 
homes.  This  caused  serious  inconvenience  and 
hardship. 

16.  The  high  taxation,  the  frequent  and 
frivolous  prosecutions,  the  notices  to  remove  the 
dyeing  yards  taken  together  exasperated  the 
people  and  strengthened  their  determination  to 
get  rid  of  the  municipality.  Finding  that  their 
protests  and  memorials  were  of  no  avail,  they 
resolved  to  suspend  payment  of  taxes  on 
27th  December,  1920. 

17.  The  Minister  came  to  Chirala  early  in 
February  1921  at  about  9  A.  M.  rested  in  the 
bungalow  5  yards  from  the  station  during  the 
day-time  and  left  the  place  after  nightfall.  He 
did  not  inspect  the  place.     He  merely  tried   to 


58     THE  CHIRAL4-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

preach  the  justice-party  doctrines  and  create  a 
split  amongst  the  people  on  caste-lines,  but 
failed  ignominiously. 

18.  The  municipal,  councillors  that  resigned 
made  it  clear  that  they  realised  the  difficulties 
of  the  people  and  sympathised  with  them  in 
their  efforts  to  dissolve  the  municipality. 

19.  The  Bureau's  statement  talks  glibly 
about  applying  the  municipal  rules  to  major 
unions  in  certain  contingencies.  But  the 
foregoing  statement  must  have  made  it 
abundantly  clear  that  the  people  need  not  and 
cannot  pay  any  extraordinary  charges  which 
ought  in  the  nature  of  things  to  be  borne  by 
the  Local  Boards. 

20.  The  Publicity  Bureau  has  deliberately 
misstated  the  whole  issue  when  it  framed  it  in 
the  following  terms : — 

•'Should  Chirala  and  its  rich  inhabitants  who  are 
demanding  the  abolition  of  the  municipality  pay 
for  those  advantages  to  the  town  or  should  the  poor 
ryot  outside  Chirala  pay  for  them." 

The  real  issue  is  "  Whether  even  in  the  sphere 
of  Local  Self -Government  the  views  of  the 
prestige-ridden  Bureaucracy  should  prevail  over 
the  wishes  of  the  people  expressed  emphatically 
and     unambiguously  ?'*    The     evacuation,    so 


THE  REAL  ISSUE  ABOUT  CHIRALA    59 

heroically  undertaken  and  so  peacefully 
conducted  is  a  conclusive  reply  to  the  allegation 
that  the  whole  trouble  is  due  to  a  handful 
of  mischief-mongering  non-co-operators.  The 
attempt  of  the  Bureau  to  create  a  split  between 
the  residents  of  Chirala  and  the  ryots  of  the 
Taluk  Board  and  to  wean  away  the  sympathies 
of  the  people  is  bound  to  fail  and  has  already 
failed.  The  people  in  several  villages  are 
contributing  their  might  to  the  relief  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Chirala. 


APPENDIX  III 
^HIRALA-PERALA,  THE  NEW  PHASE 

(ISSUED  BY   THE  PUBLICITY  OFFICER, 

THE  ANDHRA  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS 

COMMITTEE.) 

The  struggle  at  Chirala-Perala  for  the 
cancellation  of  the  municipality  has  entered 
on  a  new  phase.  After  the  evacuation  and  the 
construction  of  hundreds  of  sheds  for  accommod- 
ating the  large  population,  Government  seem  to 
have  determined  upon  crushing  the  spirit  of  the 
people  by  subjecting  them  to  oppression  in  new 
and  ingenious  ways.  The  Revenue  Department 
levied  penal  cesses  in  respect  of  the  sheds  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  pitched  in  Govern- 
ment assessed  waste.  The  rate  for  each  shed  is 
Ps.  10-2-6,  the  value  of  the  sheds  themselves 
being  about  Rs.  26  each.  This  levy  of  penalty 
has  been  made  on  41  sheds  on  pain  of  eviction. 
We  understand  that  74  more  notices  will  be 


CHIRALA-PERALA  THE  NEW  PHASE  61 

issued   shortly  and   that  70    more  are  under 
consideration. 

2.  It  is  well  to  remember  in  this  connection 
that  the  evacuation  was  completed  and  the 
sheds  put  up  about  the  first  week  of  May.  The 
people  have  passed  these  three  months  in  the 
sheds.  The  summer  was  unusually  severe,  the 
maximum  temperature  being  116  degrees  in  the 
sheds.  During  June  and  July  lOJ/^"  of  rain  has 
fallen  and  most  of  the  sheds  are  leaking.  In  spite 
of  all  these  adverse  circumstances  these  brave 
citizens  of  Chirala-Perala  fighting  for  justice,, 
truth  and  self-determination,  have  continued 
their  struggle  and  stood  the  test  most 
admirably. 

3.  The  Publicity  Bureau  of  the  Madras 
Government  mentions  that  for  the  year  1920-21 
there  were  32  income-tax  assessees  in  Chirala- 
Perala  and  argues  that  it  is  evidence  of  prosper- 
ity. But  we  understand  that  the  number  of 
assessees  is  only  35  out  of  a  population  of  14  to 
15  thousand.  The  Bureau  also  tries  to  make  out 
that  the  municipality  was  established  in  order 
to  confer  on  the  people  the  privileges  of  self- 
Government.  But  at  Chirala-Perala  even  as  at 
Repalli  the  existence  of  the  municipality  has 
meant  not  the  enjoyment  by  the  people  of  the 


62     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

privileges  of  self- Government,  but  the  very- 
negation  of  all  self-Government.  The  people 
prayed,  protested  and  in  the  end  left  their 
ancient  dwellings  rather  than  submit  to  a 
municipality  which  was  imposed  on  them 
against  their  will. 

4,  In  the  repression  at  Chirala-Perala,  the 
roll  of  honour  is  lengthening.  Already  12  men 
and  1  woman  have  served  out  their  term  of 
imprisonment  for  refusing  to  pay  the  municipal 
taxes.  Three  men  are  now  undergoing  rigorous 
imprisonment  in  the  Central  Jail  at  Rajah- 
mundry ;  six  more  are  awaiting  orders  of 
incarceration.  It  is  extraordinary  that  these 
six  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment — nearly  a 
month  ago  and  the  sentence  held  in  abeyance. 
We  have  not  heard  of  any  other  instance  in 
which  convicted  persons  are  quietly  told  that 
they  might  go  home  and  await  orders,  not  even 
bail  bonds  being  taken  from  them.  Many  more 
in  Chirala-Perala  are  prepared  to  fill  the  prisons. 
The  struggle  is  being  carried  on  with 
remarkable  vigour  and  persistence  though  the 
dislocation  of  business  caused  by  the  evacuation 
and  the  loss  of  living  in  the  case  of  poorer  in- 
habitants have  entailed  serious  hardship. 

5.  The  property  of  the  convicted  persons  has 


CHIRALA-PERALA  THE  NEW  PHASE  63 

been  attached  and  brought  to  sale  a  number  of 
times  at  Bapatla  and  at  Guntur  for  realising 
the  amount  of  fine  levied  on  them.  But  no 
bidders  have  come  forward  in  either  place.  This 
is  an  eloquent  testimony  to  the  sympathy 
generally  felt  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Chirala- 
Perala  patriots. 

6.  Some  legislative  councillors  seem  to  be 
vying  with  each  other  to  secure  credit  for 
themselves  by  moving  in  the  Council  for  the 
^cancellation  of  the  municipality.  But  let  it  be 
distinctly  understood  that  their  exertions  are 
no.t  the  outcome  of  any  solicitude  on  the  part  of 
responsible  individuals  connected  with  this 
struggle  at  Chirala-Perala. 


APPENDIX  IV 

THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA 
THE  TRIAL  SCENE 

MR.  GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S 
STATEMENT 

(FROM  ANDHRA  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS- 
PUBLICITY  BUREAU) 

BerHAMPORE,  October  1. — We  have  already 
intimated  that  Andhraratna  Duggirala  Gopaia- 
krishniah  was  arrested  on  the  1st  instant  at 
Berhampore  station  under  a  warrant  issued  by 
the  District  Magistrate  of  Ganjam  for 
"  disseminating  sedition".  The  warrant 
mentioned  no  section.  On  the  2nd  morning  he 
was  taken  to  Chicacole  Road  station  to  take 
his  trial  before  the  District  Magistrate.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  though  a  second-class  ticket 
was  purchased  for  him  the  Deputy  Superin- 
tendent of  Police,  insisted  of  his  travelling  in 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  81 

inter-class.  This  is  a  trifle  but  it  shows  up  the 
mentality  of  the  officials.  The  trial  commenced* 
at  12  noon.  The  preliminary  order  under 
section  112  was  handed  over  to  Mr.  Gopala- 
krishniah  just  before  the  commencement  of  the 
trial  whereas  in  the  ordinary  course  it  should 
have  been  served  along  with  the  warrant.  The 
preliminary  order  was  as  follows  : — 

THE  TEXT  OF  NOTICE 

Duggirala       Gopalakrishniah      of     Guntur 
District. 

Whereas  information  has  been  laid  by  the 
District  Superintendent  of  Police,  Ganjam,  that^ 
on  24th  and  26  th  September,  at  the  Andhra 
Conference  and  on  27th  September  at  a  mass 
meeting  in  Berhampore  within  the  limits  of 
my  jurisdiction,  you  delivered  speeches  calculat- 
ed to  stir  up  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  Govern- 
ment by  law  established  in  British  India  and  to 
incite  the  people  to  revolt  by  making  an  obscene 
remark  about  the  King-Emperor,  by  comparing 
the  Government  of  Ravana,  Bali  Chakravarti 
and  Hiranyakasyapa  and  elaborating  these 
comparisons  with  false  accusations  that  the 
present  Government  has  ruined  the  people  of 
the  country  and  asserting  that  it  must  and  will 
6 


82     THE  CHIRALA.-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

be  destroyed  in  three  months,  and  further  by 
threat  of  what  will  happen  to  those  who  do  now 
support  rebellion ;  whereas  also  you  sought  to 
stir  up  enmity  between  the  Brahmin  and  non- 
Brahmin  by  taunting  the  Brahmins  with  their 
alleged  miserable  conditions  and  abusing  non- 
Brahmins  as  traitors  to  their  country  for  co- 
operating with  Government ;  I  hereby  call  upon 
you  to  show  cause  w^hy  you  should  not  be 
ordered  to  furnish  security  in  a  sum  of  Rs.  1,000 
to  be  of  good  behaviour  for  a  period  of  one  year, 
with  one  surety  in  a  like  amount. 

(Sd,)  T.G.RUTHERFORD, 

District  Magistrate, 

2nd  October  1921, 

Thus  it  turned  out  that  the  prosecution  was 
not  in  respect  of  his  speech  delivered  on  the  29th 
**in  due  disobedience"  to  the  District  Magistrate's 
order  under  Section  144  served  on  Mr.  Gopala- 
krishniah  on  the  28th.  It  is  likely  that  a 
separate  prosecution  is  awaiting. 

THE  STATEMENT 

Mr.  Gopalakrishniah  gave  his  statement 
orally  in  English  "  in  order  to  expedite  the 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  83 

business  of  the  Court."  But  he  took  care  to  sign 
it  in  Telugu.  The  District  Magistrate  did  not 
permit  him  to  make  his  statements  sitting 
though  he  pleaded  ill-health.  His  statement  was 
in  the  form  of  a  running  commentary  on  the 
allegations  in  the  preliminary  order  with 
which  dialogues  interposed  here  and  there.  The 
statement  ran  as  follows : — 

"  It  is  a  fact  that  I  spoke  at  the  Andhra 
Conferences  on  the  24th  and  26th  of  September 
and  at  the  mass  meeting  at  Berhampore  on  the 
27th.  My  speeches  were  ''calculated  "  to  give  a 
correct  idea  of  the  mental  and  moral  constitution 
of  the  existing  Government.  I  do  not  know 
whether  they  are  ''  stirring  up  hatred  and 
contempt.'*  But  1  certainly  "  incited  "  them  to 
prepare  themselves  for  civil  disobedience  even- 
tually. If  however  you  wish  to  use  the  word 
■**  revolt/'  it  is  revolt  in  the  realm  of  morality 
and  of  ideas,  but  certainly  not  revolt  in  the 
military  sense  of  the  term  and  our  aim  is  to 
purify  the  Britisher  in  its  conduct  towards  men 
and  things. 

Question  : — Magistrate  : — You  made  an 
obscene  remark  about  the  King-Emperor. 

Answer  :  Gopal :  What  is  that  ? 

Here  the    Prosecuting    Inspector    read    out 


84     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

a  passage  from  Mr.  Gopalakrishniah's  speech  of 
the  24th  which  showed  that  Mr.  Gopalakrishniah 
and  others  had  on  one  occasion  corrected  a 
drunken  lout  of  Chirala  who  was  crying  out  r 
— '  Ping  George  ki  Jai  *  and  asked  him  to 
say  "  King  George  ki  Jai." 

Mr.  Gopal : — I  brought  up  the  remark  about 
King  George  to  show  the  type  of  allies  that  are 
gone  in  for  by  the  local  officials,  in  despair. 

Continuing  the  statement  Mr.  Gopala- 
krishniah said  : — I  compared  the  Government  to 
Ravana,  Bali  and  Hiranyakasyapa.  I  have  been 
doing  so  for  the  last  6  or  7  months  particularly 
because  they  present  the  exact  analogies  to  the 
different  aspects  of  the  existing  Government 
from  the  Puranas  which  alone  are  competent  to 
be  presented  to  the  masses  so  as  to  help  their 
understanding  instead  of  stale  common  places 
or  boring  philosophic  presentations.  I  have 
elaborated  these  comparisons  in  order  to  show 
up  the  aesthetic  implications  of  the  setting 
which  I  am  glad  to  say  is  very  exact. 

"  That  the  present  Government  has  ruined  the 
country  "  is  true  and  not  false.  My  assertion  that 
"  it  must  and  will  be  destroyed  '*  holds  true.  I 
never  mentioned  any  months  in  the  absolute 
sense,  though  it  is  our  hope  to  attain  Swarajya 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  85 

in  three  months  according  to  Mahatmaji's 
gauging  of  the  situation. 

The  Magistrate :  You  seem  to  be  as  exceed- 
ingly a  popular  preacher.    You  raise  laughter. 

Mr.  Gopal ;  Laughter  prevents  people  from 
becoming  morbid.     It  lubricates  the  soul. 

Continuing,  he  said  : — About  "  threaten  to 
those  who  do  not  support  rebellion,"  the  fact 
that  is  alleged  was  only  a  spiritual  demonst- 
rance,  a  moral  admonition  that  one  cannot 
escape  judgment  before  the  maker  of  things  on 
judgment  day. 

I  did  say  that  some  "  non-Brahmins "  are 
traitors.  What  I  meant  was  that  there  are  some 
amongst  us  who  do  not  call  themselves  Kshat- 
riyas.  Vysyas  or  Sudras  but  go  in  for  an  ex- 
ceedingly funny  appellation  "  non-brahmin  " 
which  by  its  very  nature  implies  hatred  of  the 
Brahmins.  And  when  the  Government  counten- 
anced the  birth  and  growth  of  these  commu- 
nities which  is  so  avowedly  anti-Brahmin 
(hatred  of  Brahmins)  I  felt  that  the  Govern- 
ment will  be  sporty  enough  to  rub  in  our 
statements  pretty  complacently.  The  Govern- 
ment has  overtly  and  covertly  assisted  the 
impudence  of  this  non-Brahmin  community  and 
thus  themselves  "  stirred  up  enmity  "  if  any  as 


86     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

alleged  in  the  order.  As  regards  "  showing 
cause,"  "I  am  a  non- co-operator  and  I  have 
nothing  to  say  but  quietly,  meekly  and  humbly 
submit  to  whatever  punishment  the  Government 
choose  to  inflict  on  me  and  pray  for  the  better- 
ment of  my  countrymen  as  well  as  of  the 
Government." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  charge  of  having 
made  obscene  remarks  about  King  George  ha& 
come  up  against  me.  I  am  afraid  it  is  due  to  a 
misinterpretation  or  misunderstanding  of  my 
language  in  its  context.  It  is  but  right  that  I 
should  express  my  regret  about  it.  I  have 
already  explained  the  circumstances  in  which  I 
used  the  quotation.  It  was  never  my  own  and 
I  am  equally  indignant  that  such  a  remark 
should  havei  fallen  from  an  ally  of  Government 
in  my  village. 

Mr.  Gopal  continued : — 

"  About  the  mythological  statement  I  shall 
make  a  general  remark  to  dispel  delusion.  First 
about  Havana,  wliile  comparing  the  existing 
Government  to  Ravana,  I  prefaced  it  with  a 
correct  thesis  of  Rakshasa's  country  to  the 
current  notion,  I  said  Rakshasas  are  not  devils  or 
demons  but  may  be  human  with  an  emphasis  on 
a  particular  manifestation  of  egoism.    That  is. 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  87 

why  I  instanced  Havana's  snatching  away  of 
others'  women  and  contrasted  it  with  the  existing- 
Government  snatching  away  of  others'  wealth, 
.  I  also  said  that  otherwise  Ravana  was  a  very 
great  man  worshipping  a  thousand  "  Lingams  "" 
every  morning.  In  a  similar  manner  while 
bringing  in  the  analogy  of  Hiranyakasyapa  I 
said  the  British  Government  stood  to  us  in  the 
relation  of  a  father 

"  Magistrate  :"  And  that  is  why  you  wish  to 
get  rid  of  them  in  3  months. 

Gopal.  But  is  because  they  are  just  reaching 
the  sublimity  of  egoism.  I  was  not  quite  sure 
and  expressly  stated  that  I  did  not  know  whe- 
ther they  were  the  one  or  the  other  (Bali  or 
Hiranyakasyapa).  They  were  not  ripe.  We 
were  yet  in  the  realm  of  hypothesis. 

"  In  the  case  of  Bali  he  gracefully  and 
graciously  offered  what  was  asked  of  him.  And  I 
said  that  it  was  a  genuine  relation  which  we  all 
hoped  for  as  an  ally  in  an  imperial  brotherhood. 
Regarding  the  three  months'  limit  Mahatma 
Gandhi  has  on  many  an  occasion  expressed  his 
conviction  that  we  will  get  Swarajya  in  three 
months;  and  being  a  faithful  disciple  I  have 
nothing  to  doubt  about  it. 

Regarding  the  currency  notes  I  have  examin- 


88     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

€d  a  hypothetical  situation  which,  by  the  way, 
must  be  popular  and  not  abstruse ;  and  this  I 
have  been  doing  on  many  a  platform.  Further 
it  is  quite  clear  from  the  evidence  that  not  a 
single  currency  note  has  been  cashed.  The 
whole  thing  was  purely  academical, 

'' Lt  is  rather  interesting  that  while  two 
thousand  persons  attended  the  meeting  (of  the 
27th),  people  from  the  cultured  strata  of  society 
have  not  come  forward  to  depose  to  the  correct 
understanding  appreciation  and  revaluation  of 
my  speech.  I  always  present  my  statement 
with  force,  with  clarity  and  with  mythological 
allusions  seasoned  with  plenty  of  humour,  I 
•do  it  deliberately  in  order  to  prevent  the 
masses  from  getting  morbid  over  the  ills  of 
Oovernment  and  to  preserve  an  equipoise  in 
their  feelings.  Differences  in  outlook  and  differ- 
•ences  in  taste  and  language  are  perhaps  the 
reason  why  these  misinterpretations  or  mis- 
understandings have  occurred.  Whatever  looks 
indecent  is  merely  a  difference  in  idiom. 
Differences  in  idiom  may  result  in  creating  a 
false  sense  of  indecency,  but  that  is  all. 

*'  About  the  Prince  of  Wales  I  mentioned,  not 
12,000  but  1,200  as  having  died  in  the  Punjab.  I 
said  we  were  in  mourning — not  in  Pollution ' 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  89 

— and  could  not  extend  to  him  a  hearty  wel- 
come. 

"  Generally  speaking  my  view  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Congress  view  and  particularly 
I  follow  Mahatma  Gandhi's  precepts.  I  have 
nothing  more  to  add." 

MAGISTRATE'S   QUESTIONS 

Magistrate: — Do  you  deny  the  charge  of 
having  stirred  enmity  against  Government  ? 

Gopal : — I  do  deny  it.  Being  a  sport  myself 
I  do  not  create  enmity  against  Government  nor 
do  I  intend  it. 

Magistrate : — And  about  creating  disaffec- 
tion ? 

Here  followed  a  discussion  as  to  the  exact 
meaning  to  be  attached  to  the  word  "disaffec- 
tion." 

At  last,  Mr.  Gopal  said  : — *  Now  I  shall  give 
you  a  concrete  instance."  Mahatma  Gandhi  has 
said  that  the  present  Government  is  'satanic'  I 
am  a  follower  of  Mahatmaji  and  I  also  believe 
in  it.     I^ow  is  that  disaffection  ? 

Magistrate : — It  may  be  so  but  you  say  you 
•do  not  stir  up  enmity. 

Gopal  :— I  do  not. 

Magistrate : — That  will  do. 


90     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

The  proceedings  closed  for  the  day  at  this  stage 
(5  P.M.).  The  case  was  adjourned  for  judgment 
to  9  A.M.  next  day  (3rd  October  1921).  Mr, 
Gopal  was  released  on  his  personal  recog- 
nisance so  that  his  friends  had  an  opportunity 
of  spending  some  more  time  with  him.  JSfext 
morning  at  9-30  the  Magistrate  summoned  Mr» 
Gopal  before  him  and  the  following  conversa- 
tion took  place  between  them. 

Magistrate  : — Will  you  sign  the  l)ond  and 
furnish  security  ? 

Gopal : — No.  As  a  Congressman  I  cannot 
do  it. 

Magistrate:— I  am  sorry  I  would  much  rather 
prefer  your  executing  the  bond.  But  since  you 
refuse  I  must  finish  the  order,  but  why  don't  you 
execute  the  bond  ? 

Gopal : — I  cannot  do  it  now.  I  shall  give  secu- 
rity to  a  free  Government. 

Magistrate: — What  do  you  mean  by  a  free 
Government  ?    It  is  probably  anarchy. 

Gopal : — Why,  this  very  Government  will 
evolve  itself  into  a  free  Government. 

Magistrate  : — It  will  if  you  help  those  of  us 
who  are  trying  our  best  to  evolve  it.  Why  do 
you  carry  on  your  political  agitation  with  so 
much  rancour  ? 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  91. 

Gopal: — There  is  no  rancour.  It  is  only 
righteous  indignation.  It  may  appear  to  have 
a  veneer  of  rancour. 

Magistrate : — Why  should  it  ? 

Gopal : — We  are  in  opposite  political  camps.. 
So,  it  may  look  like  rancour  to  the  prejudiced 
eyes  of  our  opponents. 

Magistrate  : — You  were  in  England  for  five 
years.  You  know  the  political  agitation  there 
is  not  carried  on  with  so  much  rancour, 

Gopal : — No.  But  the  Government  there  is^ 
more  sportly. 

Magistrate : — Did  you  think  so  ? 

Gopal: — Yes.  Don't  you  see  how  Lloyd. 
George  has  agreed  to  another  conference  with 
De  Valera  accepting  his  '*  sine  qua  non." 

Magistrate: — But  Lord  Reading  saw  Gandhi- 

Gopal : — But  not  in  a  similar  manner  and 
with  the  same  credentials  as  De  Valera-  What 
is  the  term  of  my  imprisonment  ? 

Magistrate: — One  year's  simple  imprisonment 
or  such  earlier  term  if  you  furnish  security.  I 
hear  that  Raja  Venkatakrihna  Rao  is  already 
thinking  of  furnishing  security.  (This,  by  the- 
way,  is  not  correct.^) 

The  District  Magistrate  wished  to  know  if 
any  special  arrangements  were  to  be  made  for 


52     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

diet.  Mr.  Gopal  said  that  he  was  not  well  and 
that  he  would  be  glad  if  he  was  provided  with 
milk  and  wheat  diet,  and  continue  his  usual 
medicine.  The  District  Magistrate  made  a  note 
of  it  and  agreed  to  give  wide  discretion  to  the 
Jail  Superintendent.  Mr,  Gopal  thanked  the 
District  Magistrate  for  the  courtesy  shown  by 
the  District  Magistrate  towards  himself  and  his 
friends  throughout  the  proceedings.  He  also 
observed  that  such  courtesy  was  not  usually 
forthcoming. 

Magistrate: — Is  there  anything  else  you 
want? 

Gopal : — I  wish  to  say  just  a  few  words  to  my 
friend  Ramakotiswara  Rao. 

Magistrate ; — Yes,  he  may  accompany  you  in 
"the  car  to  the  Railway  station. 

When  he  came  out  I  (Mr.  Ramakotiswara 
Rao)  asked  him  how  he  took  to  charges.  He 
said  : — One  at  least  is  absurd,  namely,  that  of 
having  used  obscene  remarks.  If  I  am  asked 
as  to  why  it  was  mentioned  in  the  meeting  at 
all,  I  would  reply  that  truth  however  ugly 
it  is  and  however  unaesthetic  its  form  must  be 
told.  Drawing  room  susceptibilities  are  out  of 
place  in  a  gathering  of  grim  politics,  Mahatma 
Gandhiji  appears  in    his    "  Kaupenam "   (loin 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  93^ 

cloth),  before  an  audience  of  50,000,  these  peo- 
ple would  probably  explain  that  the  demonstra- 
tion is  highly  obscene.  This  is  an  usual 
subterfuge  of  the  Government  to  damn  the 
voteries  of  the  movement.  I  am  never  under 
the  influence  of  ""  moralic  acid."  I  suspect  with 
Nietzche  that  "English  puritanism  smell-spleen 
and  alcoholic  excess."  Regarding  other  charges,, 
they  are  the  usual  story  everywhere  and  my 
statement  is  explanatory  enough.  The  one 
new  thing  is  about  those  mythological  allusions. 
My  thesis  about  Rakshasas  and  their  attain- 
ment of  moksha  through  "  sathru  sadhana," 
if  properly  placed  before  the  public  will 
clearly  obviate  the  charge  and  incidentally 
present  the  different  aspects  of  the  existing 
Government  in  a  typically  Indian  manner  to  a 
typically  Indian  audience  uncorrupted  in  their 
mentality  and  unalloyed  in  their  instinct.  He 
added  :  "  I  do  not  hate  the  '  non-Brahmans.'  I 
have  all  love  for  them  but  I  grieve  that  some 
of  them  are  opposed  to  the  Swarajya  move- 
ment." 

He  gave  some  parting  messages  to  be  convey- 
ed to  friends  and  expressed  his  gratefulness- 
and  his  sincere  respects  to  Mahatmaji  and  to 
Desabhakta  Venkatappayya. 


94     THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

I  wish  to  add  a  word  about  the  District 
Magistrate  Mr.  T.  G.  Rutherford.  His  behaviour 
througliout  the  trial  was  exceedingly  gentle- 
manly. He  was  good  humoured  and  was 
smiling  visibly  on  occasions  more  especially 
when  P.  W.  1  was  explaining  how,  according 
to  Mr.  Gopalakrishniah.  Lord  Willingdon  re- 
sembled Ravana  with  his  ten  heads  ;  The  eight 
Ministers  were  the  eight  heads ;  Lord  Willing- 
don's  own  head  was  the  9th  and  on  the  top  of  it 
all,  Sir  P.  Tyagaraya  Chetty's  was  the  tenth. "At 
the  last  remark  the  Magistrate  burst  out  laugh- 
ing. He  also  mentioned  that  the  Government 
of  Madras  were  likely  to  make  special  arrange- 
ments for  political  prisoners  and  that  Mr. 
'Gopalakrishniah  might  take  his  own  bed,  cot 
and  other  things. 

The  Magistrate's  order  contained  the  follow- 
ing passage : — 

"  This  District  has  hitherto  been  spared  such 
excess  of  political  madness,  and  I  see  no  reason 
why  if  accused  has  been  allowed  to  pursue  his 
'Career  of  incitement  to  disaffection  unchecked 
elsewhere,  he  should  be  allowed  to  do  so  here. 
Further  even  from  his  manner  in  Court,  it  is 
•c'ear  thit  he  has  the  art  of  putting  an  audienco 
in  good  humour  with  itself  and  the   speaker, 


GOPALAKRISHNIAH'S  TRIAL  95 

and  is  therefor^  more  dangerous  as  an  agitator. 
That  he  is  utterly  reckless  is  shown  by  his 
disobeying  an  order  under  section  144,  Criminal 
Procedure  Code  issued  after  the  delivery  of  the 
speech  now  under  consideration. 


ADDENDUM 

THE  HERO  OF  CHIRALA-PERALA 
RESURRECTED 

ALLEGED  SEDITION 

Second  trial  under  Section  124A,  Indian 
Penal  Code. 

It  was  stated  in  the  columns  of  Kistna 
Patrica  of  5th  November,  1921  that  Mr.  Duggi- 
rala  Gopalakrishnayya,  who  was  sentenced  to 
one  year's  simple  imprisonment  under  Section 
107  Criminal  Procedure  Code  (security  proceed- 
ings) at  Berhampore  would  have  to  undergo 
another  trial  at  Masulipatam  on  10th  November 
under  Section  124A,  Indian  Penal  Code.  The 
Andhra  people  did  not  at  first  believe  the  paper's 
revelation;  but  afterwards  when  the  Andhra 
Patrica  published  that  Gopalakrishna  was 
brought  from  Trichinopoly  to  Madras  and  thence 
he  would  proceed  to  Masulipatam  to  undergo  a 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  97 

farcical  trial,  the  Andhras  were  astir  and  began  to 
wonder  at  the  wicked  policy  of  the  Government 
of  Madras.  Gopalakrishna  started  on  8th  Novem- 
ber at  Madras  by  Waltair  passenger  and  at  every 
station  on  his  way  to  Bezwada,  people  flocked 
in  large  numbers  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
hero.  At  Bezwada  on  9th  morning,  at  8  o'clock, 
people  crowded  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  hero's 
features.  Till  11  o'clock,  there  was  a  regular 
stream  of  people  coming  and  going,  asking  the 
hero  of  his  experiences  in  the  jail,  begging  him 
to  receive  fruits  they  brought  with  them  and 
when  he  gladly  accepted  them,  quitting  the 
place  with  great  joy  and  happiness.  At 
Bezwada  I  met  Gopalakrishna  and  he  handed 
over  to  me  the  notice  served  on  him  at 
Trichinopoly  Central  Jail  to  take  a  copy  of  it. 
Here  is  the  notice  : — 

"0.0.4  OF  1921, 

NOTIOE  FOR  THE  ACOUSED. 

IN  THE  OOURT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  MAGISTRATE, 

KISTNA 

ToDuggiralaGopalakrishnayya  Garu  now  in 
Central  Jail,  Trichinopoly. 

Notice  is  hereby  given  to  you  that  a  case 
against  you  under  Section  124A,  Indian  Penal 

7 


98     THE  CHIRAL4-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Code,  filed  before  this  Court  stands  posted  to 
10th  November  1921  at  11  A.M.  at  Masulipatam. 

You  can  engage  a  pleader  if  you  desire  to  do 
so. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  this  27th  day 
of  October  1921, 

(Sd.)  H,  H.  F.  M.  TYLER. 

District  Magistrate'' 

The  train  for  Masulipatam  started  punctually 
at  11  o'clock.  Gopalakrishna  had  some  breath- 
ing space  after  the  train  started,  when  he  told 
us  his  experiences  of  the  Jail.  The  features  of 
the  hero  clearly  indicate  that  his  health  has 
failed  him  ;  and  he  said  *'  I  never  thought  such 
a  hell  (the  jail)  exists  upon  this  beautiful 
earth."  He  described  the  jail  as  a  cremation 
ground  wherein  one  pines  after  his  love,  an- 
other abuses  the  prison  authorities,  a  third  falls 
foul  with  his  fellow-prisoner  and  so  on.  It 
seems,  he  said,  that  seven  Sikhs,  who  were 
sentenced  to  transportation  for  life  in  the  last 
Lahore  Conspiracy  case  were  on  hunger-strike 
at  Trichinopoly  jail  protesting  against  the 
wretched  conditions  prevailing  there.  The  jail 
warders,  it  is  a  custom  with  them,  to  cry  "  all 
is    well  "  during    the  nights.    Gopalakrishna 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  99 

made  them  to  change  their  cry  into  *'  all  is 
hell."  The  prison  authorities,  after  a  great 
deliberation  extending  over  a  fortnight,  gave 
our  hero  a  pencil  and  no  paper.  Gopalakrishna 
wrote  with  the  pencil  on  the  white  wall  of  his 
cell  "  Economics  does  not  cure  a  crime"'" 
He  also  said  that  people  should  not  be  attracted 
by  garlands  if  they  go  to  jails  but  must  be 
prepared  to  undergo  all  difficulties,  nay  even 
be  prepared  to  sacrifice  their  lives. 

At  every  intermediate  station,  a  group  of 
passengers  came,  visited  the  hero,  asked  about 
his  health,  presented  fruits,  and  carried  his 
message  of  love  and  sacrifice.  The  train  steamed 
into  the  Masulipatam  station  at  2  o'clock  where 
a  large  crowd  of  people  gathered  on  the  plat- 
form to  give  a  royal  welcome  to  the  hero.  As 
soon'as  he  got  down  from  the  compartment 
Gopalakrishna  was  garlanded  and  he  embraced 
Mr.  Krishna  Rao,  Editor,  the  Kistna  Patrica, 
expressing  his  ecstacies  of  joy  on  seeing  his  old 
^'  friend  and  philosopher."  A  large  number  of 
friends  came  from  Guntur,  Bezwada,  Gudivada, 
and  other  places  to  attend  the  trial  the  next 
day.  Gopalakrishna  was  taken  in  procession  in 
a  jutka  followed  by  a  huge  crowd  of  people, 
singing  national  songs,  and  was  lodged  in  the 


100  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

sub-jail.  All  streets  were  lined  with  large- 
number  of  spectators  and  that  was  a  gala  day 
in  Masulipatam.  The  police  tried  their  best  to- 
get  rid  of  the  procession  but  their  attempts- 
ignominously  failed.  It  was  in  1908  that  the 
first  sedition  trial  took  place  at  Masulipatam  in 
the  Andhradesh  when  two  patriots  were- 
sentenced  to  6  and  9  months  simple  imprison-^ 
ment  and  again  the  town  sustained  its  tradi- 
tions  well  in  the  yearl921. 

On  10th  NTovember  1921  the  trial  commenced 
punctually  at  11  A.M.  before  Mr.  B.  H.  F.  M. 
Tyler,  C  I,  E.  I.CS.,  the  District  Magistrate  of 
Kistna.  The  attendance  was  very  restricted ; 
but  after  some  rupture,  some  of  the  prominent 
men  were  allowed  into  the  court. 

When  the  Public  Prosecutor,  Mr.  Sidimbi 
Hanumantha  Rao  was  addressing  the  court 
Gopalakrishnayya  asked  the  District  Magis- 
trate "  Excuse  me,  Sir,  will  you  please  ask  him 
(the  Public  Prosecutor)  to  speak  a  little  louder?"" 

The  District  Magistrate  accordingly  directed 
the  Public  Prosecutor. 

Gopal : — Am  I  here! as  an  accused  ? 

Dt.  Mg. :— Yes. 

Gopal : — Is  this  trial  a  public  trial  or  a  ghosha 
affair  ? 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  101 

Dt.  Mg. : — This  is  a  public  triaL 

Gopal : — If  so,  can  you  consider  anyone  as  a 
public  man  here? 

Dt.  Mg. : — I  have  no  objection  if  anybody 
proposes  to  come  in. 

Gopal: — How  many  had  you  proposed  to 
admit  ? 

Dt.  Mg.: — As  many  as  this  hall  can  accommo- 
<iate. 

Here  the  Deputy  Superintendent  interven- 
ed and  said  that  nobody  was  forthcoming, 
though  about  a  thousand  people  stood  out- 
side the  gates  waiting  anxiously  for  admit- 
tance. 

Gopal :— Is  nobody  forthcoming  !  1  I  saw  my 
friends  outside  the  gate  which  remains  closed 
evidently  with  the  intention  ot  preventing 
everybody  from  entering  in.  For  instance 
there  is  my  friend  Krishna  Rao,  awaiting  ad- 
mittance outside  the  gate. 

Dt.  Mg.:— I  invited  Mr.  Krishna  Rao  (thinking 
him  to  be  Mr.  M.  Krishna  Rao).  I  sent  him 
a  letter. 

Gopal : — Possibly  it  might  not  have  reached 
Mr.  Krishna  Rao. 

Dt.  Mg. :— It  is  not  my  look-out. 

Gopal :— Oh  !  the  police  must  have  managed 


102  THE  CHIKALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

it  otherwise,  I  am  afraid  people  will  put  it  to 
diplomacy  so  that  there  may  be  a  show  of  the 
District  Magistrate  having  allowed  some  to 
come  in  and  the  police  in  the  interests  of  *order' 
prevented  everybody  and  thus  get  credit  for 
having  managed  "  decently."  I  am  not  anxious 
anybody  should  come  in  :  as  a  matter  of  fact  I 
do  not  recognise  this  court  at  all  and  I  do  not 
consider  myself  as  undergoing  trial  as  it  is 
prohibited  by  our  Congress.  If  I  participate  in 
the  proceedings,  I  do  it  only  as  presenting  my 
position  to  a  fair-minded  English  gentleman 
who  is  anxious  to  know  the  truth  of  the  whole 
affair,  the  accusations  of  the  Government  and 
my  comment  thereon. 

The  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Police  audaci- 
ously again  remarked  that  nobody  expresses  his 
wish  to  come  in. 

Gopal:— The  people  outside  the  gate  may 
not  know  at  all.  You  may  just  send  a  word 
to  them  ;  and  I  hope  you  will  pardon  my  preci- 
pitating the  silence  of  the  *' court."  It  might 
bore  you  and  everybody  here. 

After  so  much  fuss,  a  small  number  of  people 
were  admitted  into  the  court. 

C.  Krishnaswami  Naidu,  Inspector  of  Police^ 
lodged  complaint  under  section  124 A,  Indian 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  103 

Penal  Code,  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of 
Madras.  The  subject  of  the  prosecution  was  a 
speech  delivered  at  Ellore  by  Gopalakrishna 
on  26th  June  1921.  The  Madras  Government 
sanctioned  prosecution  in  September  and  the 
case  was  heard  on  10th  November. 

Gopal : — The  case  would  have  been  settled  by 
punchayets  when  Swaraj  comes  and  there 
is  no  need  for  wasting  so  much  precious  time 
here. 

Dt.  Mg. : — You  have  not  got  swaraj  yet. 

Gopal : — We  will  get  it  shortly.  You  may 
postpone  the  case  till  then. 

Then  S.  Ponnurangam  Mudaliar,  the  Deputy 
Superintendent  of  Police,  was  called  in.  He 
said  that  he  belongs  to  Vellala  community  and 
attested  the  signature  of  Marjoribanks,  the 
official  who  sanctioned  the  prosecution  on 
behalf  of  the  Government  of  Madras. 

Gopal: — Then  Brahmin  (Vs.)  non-Brahmin. 
I  am  glad  you  did  not  declare  yourself  as  a  non- 
Brahmin  for  Brahmins  are  dead  in  my  country. 
•  Dt.  Mg. : — Will  you  cross-examine  the  wit- 
ness? 

Gopal : — I  do  not.    I  know  Englishman  will 
never  forge  and  their  tradition  is  a  long  time 
back  to  visit  forgery  by  hanging. 


104  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

K.  Srinivasa  Rao,  a  short-hand  sub-Inspector, 
was  called  in.    He  said : — 

"I  have  been  deputed  to  take  speeches  at 
Ellore  by  my  official  superiors.  I  took  short- 
hand notes  of  Mr.  G  opalakrishnayya's  speech  at 
Ellore.  The  meeting  was  on  26th  June  1921, 
These  are  the  shorthand  notes  of  the  speech 
(pointing  to  the  notes).  I  have  taken  the  speech 
correctly.  I  obtained  the  signature  of  the 
superior  officer  immediately  after  the  meeting 
was  over.  I  have  obtained  the  signature  of  the 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  Police  Mr.  K.  I 
have  transcribed  the  speech  into  longhand. 
Exhibit  B  is  the  correct  transcription  of  the 
speech.  Exhibit  B  is  in  my  own  handwriting 
and  signed  by  me.  T  have  also  taken  the 
speeches  of  other  speakers.  They  are  also  in 
shorthand  and  longhand.  The  transcription  of 
the  accused's  speech  begins  from  pages  22  to  39 
and  44,  47,  and  48  pages  also. 

Gopal : — I  wish  to  have  a  copy  of  the 
speeches. 

p.  P. : — I  have  no  objection. 

Dt.  Mg. : — Will  you  cross-examine  the  wit- 
ness? 

Gopal : — No.  I  am  not  much  concerned  with 
the  reliability  or  unreliability  of  these  chaps.  I 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  105 

do  not  want  to  be  cross  with  them  at  all.  I 
am  glad  that  the  Government  obtained  such  a 
hand  of  fellows  who  do  the  shorthand  writing 
in  our  language  smartly  so  that  they  might 
be  producing  something  like  your  Hansard 
(the  Parliamentary  Reports),  I  am  not  particu- 
lar about  that.  Please  see  that  you  expediate 
the  proceedings  so  that  time  might  not  be 
wasted  and  you  bring  in  as  many  of  our  men 
as  you  can  and  help  us  in  winning  Swaraj 
immediately. 

Then  the  shorthand  reporter  read  the  whole 
speech. 

Gopal : — I  want  to  draw  your  (District  Magis- 
trate's) attention  that  my  whole  speech  is  woe- 
fully disconnected  and  he(the  shorthand  reporter) 
misunderstood  some  of  the  statements.  He  pre- 
sented the  speech  in  a  shabby  manner  and  there 
are  many  omissions  and  in  many  parts  irrelevant. 
Of  course  he  has  taken  notes  from  my  speech. 
He  omitted  many  thesis.  I  said  something  about 
Panchamas  and  the  theory  of  criminology. 
Perhaps  the  whole  of  my  speech  would  have 
taken  more  than  200  pages  (laughter  in  the 
court). 

Here  the  accused  asked  the  District  Magistrate 
to  put  in  one  statement  after  another  so  as  to 


108  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

but    not    outside.     Please    note    reliability   of 
shorthand  notes  is  not  my  concern. 

P.  P. : — There  are  other  speeches  of  the 
accused  which  do  not  come  under  this  section 
!but  throw  light  on  the  subject  of  his  thought. 

Gopal : — Delivered  at  what  place  ? 

P.  P. : — Some  at  Bezwada. 

Gopal : — Then  take  them  into  124A  section. 

Dt.  Mg. : — If  they  are  relevant 

Gopal : — Why  !  Judging  from  their  physiog- 
namy  the  Bezwada  speeches  come  along  with 
Ellore  ones  and  they  betray  a  kinship.  I 
request  you  to  take  in  the  Bezwada  speeches. 
Technically  speaking  we  are  at  war  and  my 
thesis  there  was  war  and  violence  can  afford  to 
be  two  different  things.  I  was  demonstrating 
as  to  how  to  obtain  war  without  violence  for 
instance  Sdpam  and  our  Rishisare  Sdpdyudhulu 
which  is  not  a  metaphor.  I  have  developed  the 
Congress  creed,  of  course,  not  conflicting  with  it 
but  supplementing  it.  Those  speeches  must  be 
taken  into  this  section  for  in  them  I  advocated 
a  sort  of  war — Dandopdyam. 
(Here  the  bayonet  of  the  Reserved  Policeman 
fell  down  and  the  accused  remarked  it  was  a  bad 
omen  as  it  forbades  the  Government  made  drop 
down  violence.) 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  109' 

Dt.  Mg.  (to  P.P.)-— "^  cannot  allow  the 
Bezwada  speeches  to  be  filed  here.  How  do 
you  say  that  the  accused's  Ellore  speech  offends 
124  A? 

p.  P.  (got  up  and  began  to  take  the  objec- 
tionable portions,  one  by  one,  and  commented 
on  them.) 

"  When  white  faces  that  have  come  from  a 
distance  of  8,000  miles  rule,  we  sit  with  white 
(palej  faces."  This  sentence  creates  disaffection. 
"  Thieving  is  going  on  in  my  country."  This- 
sentence  implies  accusation  against  the  Govern- 
ment and  tends  to  produce  hatred  in  the  minds 
of  the  hearers.  These  sentences — "  They  have 
instilled  fear  and  devotion  (in  us).  They  have 
first  instilled  poison  into  our  heads  " — also  help 
to  create  contempt  towards  the  Government. 

Gopal : — These  sentences  have  been  taken 
away  from  their  context  and  the  Public  Prose- 
cutor attributes  wrong  meaning  to  them.  This 
is  a  typical  case  of  omission, 

Dt.  Mg, : — After  the  speech  of  the  Public 
Prosecutor  you  can  have  your  say. 

Gopal ; — I  do  not  want  to  waste  your  time. . 
You  will  help  us  to  win  Swaraj  if  you  send  as 
many  of  my  countrymen    as  you   can  to  jails 
within  this  month. 


110  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

P.  P. : — (continuing).  *^  You  have  been  here 
without  shame  or  whatsoever  when  people  who 
came  from  8000  miles  rule  over  you/'  This 
sentence  also  indicates  disaffection.  "  If  need 
be,  we  must  have  the  power  to  throw,  at  once, 
one  hundred  white  men  into  the  Swarga.  If 
not  we  are  unfit  for  swaraj."  This  sentence 
clearly  evokes  hatred  against  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Gopal : — That  is  a  typical  case  of  omission. 
My  view  was  that  people  have  become  so 
emaciated,  lean  and  lanky  and  look  so  lancorous 
with  some  deep-seated  agony  e.g-f  look  at  myself. 
We,  people,  must  be  like  you  (pointing  to  the 
District  Magistrate),  robust,  strong,  and  well- 
built.  We  must  be  a  match  to  the  Englishmen 
in  point  of  wealth  and  strength. 

P.  P. : — "  Our  difficulties  are  severe  :  We  are 
not  able  to, live."  This  means  that  the  Govern- 
ment does  not  allow  us  to  live.  And  this 
'Certainly  creates  disaffection  towards  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Gopal : — I  propose  you  should  go  to  the 
national  college  and  study  idioms  for  sometime. 
I  said  "  we  do  not  deserve  to  live."  But  your 
i:ranslation  of  the  Telugu  idiom  is  meaningless. 

p.  P. : — Gandhi  is  Rudramurty  (the  God  of 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  111 

Destruction).  If  we  take  the  context  it  indi- 
cates hatred  and  contempt. 

Gopal : — That  is  a  typical  case  of  incorrect 
understanding.  The  Police  are  not  philosophers. 
Hence  this  defect.  I  have  developed  a  great 
thesis  on  it.  I  will  explain  it  to  you.  Economics 
deal  with  wealth.  Wealth  consists  of  utilities  ; 
and  utilities  are  "  appropriated."  Appropriation 
is  consumption.  The  commodity,  material  or 
immaterial,  must  cease  to  exist  that  is  to  say 
when  we  impart  value  to  things  we  decree  their 
death:  and  such  death  is  Pralaya  whose 
Adhisthana  Devata  is  Hudra.  !,_ 

P.  P. : — "  The  Government  is  arrogant^ 
This  generates  contempt. 

Gopal : — People  are  not  much  acquainted 
with  Telugu  idioms  nowadays.  Therefore  in  the 
•open  meeting  I  translated  it  at  once  as  Prestige 
so  that  one  might  understand  our  clean 
methods. 

p.  p. ;—"  We  %q\  Swaraj  in  a  month."  This 
means  that  the  British  Government  will  be 
•destroyed  :  and  this  produces  hatred.  "  Earth 
withholds  milk. "  Before  this  sentence  a  story 
was  told  by  the  accused.  Once  a  king  went  to 
see  a  sugar-cane  plantation  when  he  witnessed 
that   a    large    quantity    of    juice    was   being 


112  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

extracted  from  sugar-canes.  He  became 
jealous  of  the  owners'  profits  and  from  that 
time,  sugar- canes  on  that  plantation  became 
juiceless.  Another  story  also  is  told  by  the 
accused.  "The  other  day,  on  our  return  from 
Nagpur,  Pantulu  Garu  and  I  halted  at  Doulata- 
bad.  There  are  great  temples  there.  The 
artistic  skill  of  them  is  excellent.  At  such  a 
place  we  found  that  there  was  no  water  to 
drink.  How  many  must  have  been  at  work  in 
constructing  such  big  temples?  How  many 
years  must  they  have  worked?  In  such  a 
place  drinking  water  has  to  be  bought  at  so- 
many  Manikas  a  rupee.  Has  (the  cow  of) 
the  Earth  withheld  her  milk  (sap)  •  or  not  ? 
Thinking  that  it  is  a  great  sin,  even  the  earth 
has  withheld  her  milk."  When  we  consider 
these  two  stories  one  is  left  with  the  impression, 
that  because  the  Government  is  going  in  a 
wrong  path,  therefore  there  was  no  water  in 
that  place.  "  For  they  say  that  the  efficacy  of 
the  arrow  of  Sri  Ramachandra  was  known  to- 
the  sea.  We  should  not  say  it  was  known  tO' 
Ravana  (a  sloka  was  read  by  the  accused  here 
in  the  meeting):  for  Ravanesura  was  a 
wicked  being :  what  great  effort  is  re~ 
quired   to    kill    him?    It  does  not    matter  if 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  113' 

the  British  Government  exists,  ceases  to  exist 
or  meets  with  destruction."  The  accused 
compared  the  Government  with  Havana  and 
Hiranyakasyapa  and  this  certainly  produces 
hatred  in  the  minds  of  the  hearers. 

Gopal: — I  am  sorry  to  note  you  have  not 
clearly  grasped  the  meaning  and  purport  of 
those  sentences.  The  sea  is  infinite  and  one  of 
the  visible  kinsmen  of  God.  The  measure  of 
Rama's  prowess  is  to  be  judged  not  by  his 
killing  Ravana  but  by  trying  conclusions  over 
the  Infinite.  You  punish  the  criminal  and  your 
capacity  cannot  be  judged  by  that  but  by  your 
power  over  the  Infinite.  Yes.  It  does  not 
matter  if  the  British  Government  exists  or  not.. 
That  is  to  say  we  should  kill  Ravana  in  the 
British  Government.  There  may  be  Rama  in 
British  Government  too.  As  for  comparing  tha 
Government  to  Ravana  and  other  Rakshasas,  T 
can  have  the  necessary  objectivity  of  mind  and 
vision  being  emphasized  for  instance  Ravana 
has  Paraddrdpaharanam  while  this  Govern- 
ment has  Paravitthdpaharanam,  Hiranya- 
kasyapa was  punished  not  by  his  son  Prahlada, 
but  by  God  Himself.  We  must  play  the  part  of 
Prahlada  because  the  Government  are  supposed 
to  be  "father"  of  the  people.  If  the  Govern - 
8 


114  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

ment  choose  the  path  of  Hiranyakasyapa,  God 
appears  in  Nrisimhavatara  :  but  if  they 
choose  the  path  of  Bali  he  is  Vamana  as  he  is 
now.  In  the  latter  case  we  will  be  allies  and 
be  happy.  But  in  the  former  Nrisimha  is 
violence  and  who  knows  that  Prahlada  may 
not  be  violent  as  in  Nrisimha's  Manifestation. 
He  filled  Himself  in  all  Creation  ;  and  therefore 
cannot  escape  possessing  Prahlada  too  the  very 
incarnation  of  Humility. 

Public  Prosecutor  afterwards  again  took 
portions  of  his  speech  one  by  one  and  began  to 
point  out  how  they  tend  to  create  hatred  and 
contempt  and  disaffection. 

Dt.  Mg.  (to  the  accused)  : — Do  you  want  to 
say  anything  ? 

Gopal : — First  of  all  I  want  to  make  my 
position  clear.  I  certainty  accept  an  English 
judge  because  I  wish  to  enlighten  you  for  the 
civilians  have  to  help  us  in  our  Civil  Disobedi- 
ence programme.  I  ask  you  to  resign  and  help 
us  to  attain  Swaraj.  The  prosecution  is  very 
bad.  I  could  prosecute  myself  more  ably  than 
the  Public  Prosecutor  has  done,  for  I  am  a  drama- 
tist. The  basis  of  prosecution  is  one  of  misunder- 
standing and  ignorance.  Take  for  instance  the 
currency  notes  question,  I  examined  a  hypothe- 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  115 

tical  statement.  When  Mahatma  Gandhi  said 
^he  would  establish  Swaraj  in  one  month,  I  want 
the  people  to  clearly  grasp  the  full  significance 
of  the  statement.  I  pointed  out  to  them  the 
uselessness  of  the  currency  paper  for  it  is  a 
popular  question  which  I  had  to  deal  with. 
Hatred  and  contempt  are  abominable.  We 
!have  contempt  not  towards  the  English  nation, 
nor  the  English  people,  but  to  some  who  richly 
deserve  it.  I  am  sick  of  this  refrain.  The 
most  important  thing  to  the  Government  is 
money.  Money  is  the  soul,  the  life  of  all 
Oovernments.  Now  the  British  Government 
presented  us  money  in  notes.  I  was  criticising 
the  attitude  of  the  Government's  economics. 
War  chests  may  be  filled  up  with  money  and 
inconvertible  notes  may  be  used.  That  econo- 
mics is  very  bad.  The  shorthand  reporter  did 
not  understand  it  well.  If  you  invest  those 
notes  with  us  we  will  honour  them  otherwise 
we  won't.  As  for  Rakshasa  he  is  a  man  in 
whom  a  particular  type  of  egoism  is  empha- 
sized and  I  know  that  Rakshasas  belong  to 
the  Brahmin  class  (laughter  in  the  court). 
Brahmins  are  dead  in  my  country.  You  (Dt. 
Mg.)  are  in  a  way  a  brahmin  for  Brahmins 
-are    always    rulers.    I  use    popular    illustra- 


116  THE  CHIRALA.-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

tions  for  they  are  well  understood  by  the? 
masses. 

Dt.  Mg» : — Do  you  believe  that  the  transcribed 
speech  of  the  prosecution  is  not  fair  ? 

(Here  the  accused  pointed  out  certain  word& 
which  indicate  that  they  do  not  bear  the 
interpretation  put  upon  them  by  the  prosecution)- 

Gopal  : — There  are  four  points.  Very  im^ 
portant  omissions.  This  would  result  in  an 
incorrect  understanding  of  those  sentiments 
which  are  bundled  up  so  that  the  whole  looks- 
like  an  incoherent  and  intangible  mass- 

Dt.  Mg.:— I  like  to  say  this.  If  you  think  that 
there  is  any  incorrect  thing  the  proper  course  is- 
to  cross-examine  witnesses.  You  will  be  free 
to  recall  each  of  them  to  cross-examine  after 
the  charges  are  framed. 

Gopal; — I  do  not  want  to  cross-examine  nor 
am  I  going  to  put  in  defence.  I  want  you  to^ 
clearly  understand  things  as  they  are.  If  yoU' 
permit,  I  will  put  in  my  preliminary  statement 
in  which  I  will  explain  the  omissions  and  com- 
missions of  the  prosecution.  Please  see  that 
you  allow  my  friends  Mr.  M.  Krishna  Kao,  my 
philosopher,  and  Mr.  G.  V.  Krishna  Rao,  my 
scribe,  to  be  with  me  to  prepare  the  statement 
and  give  it  to  you  to-morrow. 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  117 

Dt.  Mg. : — Yes.  I  permit  your  friends  to  help 
you.  I  adjourn  the  case  till  to-morrow  at  2  P.M. 

Second  day  (11th  November), 

The  accused  has  been  handed  a  copy  of  the 
paragraphs  of  his  speech  complained  against  by 
the  prosecution  and  was  asked  to  give  his 
preliminary  statement  thereon.  The  para- 
graphs were  typed  and  numbered.  The  accused 
stated  that  he  would  take  them  up  one  by 
one  and  would  comment  thereon.  Before  that 
he  proposed  to  read  the  preliminary  statement 
lie  was  asked  to  prepare  the  other  day.  The 
District  Magistrate  allowed  and  the  accused 
read  the  following  preliminary  statement 
which  made  a  profound  impression  on  the 
*  court '  especially  the  latter  portion  of  it  when 
he  referred  to  the  Chirala-Perala  tragedy. 

Preliminary  statement. 

"  The  speech  as  reported  is  an  insult  to  justice, 
as  the  Court  cannot  correctly  appreciate  and 
appraise  my  intention,  my  mentality,  and  action 
with  such  an  incoherent  and  intangible  bundle 
of  mutilated  sentences.  I  sympathise  with  the 
shorthand  reporter.    I  know  he  has  done  his 


118  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

job  splendidly  well  at  Berhampore.  Possibljr 
the  poor  fellow  was  exhausted  at  the  moment 
owing  to  a  storm  of  emotion  upsetting  him  at 
the  movement  as,  after  all,  he  is  my  kith  and 
kin  and  his  lancorous  look,  I  prophesy,  betrays 
an  early  resignation  of  his  bad  job,  which 
compels  him  to  damn  himself  in  this  manner 
before  his  own  countrymen.  The  chief  features- 
of  the  report  are  : — 

1.  Omission  of  the  nucleus  ;  2.  Murder  of 
sequence  ;  3.  Mutilation  of  illustration ;  4o. 
Wrong  reproduction  of  sound ;  5.  A  false 
knowledge  of  allusion,  during  the  mention  of 
which  possibly  negligence  of  not  taking  it  down 
at  the  time  in  full  owing  to  a  self-confidence. 

And  all  these,  who  knows,  may  be  due  to  a 
tip  from  above  to  cook  it  up  to  suit  the  fancy 
of  the  prosecution  and  what  is  more  a  serious- 
lack  of  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  Public 
Prosecutor  regarding  the  idiom  both  in  Telugu 
and  English  languages. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  my  amiable  adversary,, 
the  Public  Prosecutor  does  not  get  even  a  pass 
mark  in  this,  his  examination  in  the  subject  of 
literatures.  Perhaps  he  studied  well  but  is 
nervous  in  the  hall  for  having  to  send  a  fellow- 
being  of  his  own   to  jail  for  opinions   which,  I 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  119^ 

detect,  he  himself  in  his  heart  of  hearts 
cherishes  and  beHeves. 

A  misapprehension  of  the  significance  of  my 
statement  owing  perhaps  to  want  of  good 
discipline  in  logic  for  hypothetical  situations 
which  I  presented  and  examined  in  my  speech 
as  for  example  the  question  of  currency  notes  is 
confounded  to  be  the  presentations  of  the 
actuals. 

General  lack  of  wider  outlook  and  a  pene- 
trating vision  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution 
and  the  most  important  of  all,  the  lack  of 
aesthetic  sensitivity  to  see  in  full  length  the 
suggestions  and  implications.  But  all  these 
omissions  and  commissions  are  due  to  all  the 
instruments  of  this  trial  being  tools  in  the  bure- 
aucratic machine  which  is  still  "  too  wooden, 
too  iron,  too  antedeluvian"  to  be  eligible  to  rule 
or  to  be  just. 

I  meant  no  hatred  and  contempt,  nor  my 
movement  does,  nor  my  audience  felt,  but 
these  obtain  in  the  morbid  imagination  of  a 
mad  and  angry  Government.  My  refrain  is  love 
and  sacrifice.  I  wish  well  with  the  police  and 
the  prosecution  and  pray  for  the  dawn  of  sense 
and  sanity  all  round. 

At  this  moment  alas !  even  humility  wants 


120  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

to  be  immodest  and  impels  me  to  say  that  the 
Government  has  to  thank  me  for  having  been 
so  considerate,  so  compassionate,  so  human  and 
so  homely  in  my  references  always  to  them  and 
their  law  even  in  the  face  of  such  an  extra- 
ordinary provocation  I  had  from  them  as  that 
with  regard  to  Chirala  and  Perala  tragedy.  If 
Mahatmaji  is  responsible  for  the  weal  of  three 
hundred  millions  of  my  countrymen  I,  as  a 
humble  follower  of  the  Rishi,  am  at  least  res- 
ponsible for  the  w^elfare  of  15,000  souls  for  whom 
the  sense  of  d — d  prestige  of  this  Government 
has  created  a  miserable  hell  for  the  last  7  or  8 
months  and  who  knows  how  long.  If  you  are 
an  Irishman — I  do  not  know  who  you  are — Sir, 
you  will  know  what  Chirala  means  for  me.  It 
has  been  a  continuous  moral  and  mental  exer- 
cise for  a  long  twelve  months,  a  wonderful  dis- 
cipline in  social  psychology  and  action  and  if  I 
liad  borne  or  bear  or  am  capable  of  bearing 
hatred  and  contempt  towards  you,  you  should 
have  raised  by  now  in  that  place  a  wild  crop  of 
dyers,an  edition-de-luxe  of  the  Punjab  wrong." 
Then  the  accused  began  to  read  the  para- 
graphs handed  over  to  him  and  commenced  com- 
ment upon  them.  Here  are  the  paragraphs 
objected  to  by  the  Prosecution  : — 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  121 

I 

"  Our  country,  a  country  with  a  population  of 
33  crores,  a  country  that  has  been  held  in  great 
honour  by  its  superiority  to  all  other  countries 
in  point  of  wealth  and  knowledge — such  a  great 
country  white  faces  that  have  come  from  a 
distance  of  8,000  miles  rule  and  we  sit  with 
white  (pale)  faces-  Gradually  we  have  been 
reduced  to  this  position.  They  are  not  of  our 
caste  or  clan.  They  are  not  of  our  form  nor 
of  our  country.  Why  should  we  do  service  to 
them  cheerfully  ?  Why  have  they  come  ?  Why 
should  people  go  from  one  country  to  another  ? 
Firstly  we  go  for  want  of  food  ;  we  also  go  for 
thieving ;  or  we  go  for  the  purpose  of  trade* 
Trade  comes  under  one  of  the  first  two  heads 
(above  stated).  Failing,  thieving  or  trading, 
there  is  begging.  Why  have  our  people  come  ? 
They  have  come  for  all  the  three.  Begging  has 
become  the  chief  thing.  Thieving  is  going  on 
in  our  country.  Making  all  of  us  unfortunate 
(destitute)  (interruption  by  some  one  saying  that 
the  shorthand  reporter  is  writing  : — Lecturer 
replying  "  what  fear  still  ?")  They  have  gradu- 
ally come  and  have  occupied  the  whole  of 
our  dominion  (country).  They  thought  that 
they  would  for  ever  remain  here.     They  have 


122  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

instilled  fear  and  devotion  (in  us)-  For  instil- 
ling fear  they  have  disarmed  (us).  They  have- 
first  instilled  poison  into  our  heads. 

II 

When,  on  return,  I  got  down  at  the 
Alexandra  Docks  in  Bombay  and  first  beheld 
the  people  here,  my  impression  was,  as  when  I 
behold  your  oxen  after  having  seen  the  oxea  of 
Palnatseema  (the  region  of  Palnad,  a  taluk 
in  the  Guntur  District,  where  a  good  breed  of 
oxen  is  available).  Why  are  they  so?  They  have 
freedom.  They  have  been  committing  some 
blunders.  Can  they  come  to  the  right  without 
committing  blunders  ?  When  I  beheld  them  at 
Bombay  I  thought  "There  are  320  millions  of" 
us.  Some  Dyer  must  cut  down  319  millions. 
The  one  million  that  remain  may  be  regenerat- 
ed." I  thought  "  you  are  devoid  of  shame  to 
remain  in  this  condition  when  those  that  have 
come  from  a  distance  of  8,000  miles  are  ruling 
over  you.  Wherever  we  see  there  is  fear,  fear 
for  everything.  Why  should  they  have  fear, 
even  now,  at  the  mere  mention  of  the  name  of 
the  Collector  ?  Perhaps  they  think  that  they 
live  for  ever.  No ;  not  at  all.  They  say  that 
even  a  King  must  have  death.    It  is  certain.- 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  125 

that  we  die.  It  is  not  good  to  be  treacherous 
We  must  have  our  eyes  wide  open  (unintelligi- 
ble). If  need  be,  we  must  have  the  power  to 
throw,  at  once,  one  hundred  white  men 
into  the  Swarga.  If  not,  we  are  unfit  for 
Swaraj. 

Ill 

Our  difficulties  are  severe.  We  are  not  able 
to  live.  When  Mr.  Gandhi,  the  Rudramurty  (the 
form  of  Siva)  was  in  this  country,  some  said 
that  they  would  sacrifice  their  blood  for 
the  movement.  They  said  that  they  would 
organise  Raj  in  a  month.  What  does  a  month 
mean  ? 

IV 

But  when  the  rulers  are  treading  the  path  of 
Adharma  only,  and  the  ruled  are  treading 
the  path  of  Adharma  and  are  sinful,  will  not 
the  (cow  of  the)  earth  withhold  her  milk  ? 

V 

The  other  day,  on  our  return  from  Nagpur, 
Pantulu  Garu  and  I  halted  at  Doulatabad. 
There    are    both    Kailas    (Siva's    Abode)    and: 


324  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Vaikuntha  (Vishnu's  Abode)  there.  There  are 
great  temples  there.  The  artistic  skill  of  thern 
is  excellent.  At  such  a  place  we  found  that 
there  was  no  water  to  drink.  How  many  must 
have  been  at  work  in  constructing  such  big 
temples?  How  many  years  must  they  have 
worked  ?  In  such  a  place  drinking  water 
has  to  be  bought  at  so  many  Manikas  a  rupee. 
Has  (the  cow  of)  the  earth  withheld  her  milk 
(sap)  or  not  ?  Thinking  that  it  is  a  great  sin, 
even  the  earth  has  withheld  her  milk. 

VI 

He  said  that  he  would  accomplish  it  by  the 
arrow  of  mere  word.  We  know  the  efficacy 
of  the  word.  There  is  no  need  of  our  consider- 
ing the  matter  of  the  British  Government.  For 
they  say  that  the  efficacy  of  the  arrow  of  Sri 
Ramachandra  was  known  to  the  sea.  They  said 
that  we  should  not  say  that  it  was  known  to 
Ravana  (sloka) ;  for  Ravanesura  was  a  wicked 
being ;  what  great  (effort)  is  required  to  kill  him? 
It  does  not  matter,  if  the  British  Government 
exists,  ceases  to  exist,or  meets  with  destruction. 
The  determination  of  the  Mahatma  (is):  What- 
ever may  happen  we  shall  establish  that  Saras - 
watamma  (goddess  of  learning)  with  her  locks, 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  125 

divided  and  ordered,  lengthwise  and  crosswise 
(with  prakka-papata  and  Adda-papata). 
Even  as  Ramadandu  (Rama's  army)  render- 
ed help  for  the  recovery  of  Sita  (Rama's 
wife)  when  she  had  been  carried  away,  we 
must  do.  War  may  come.  It  will  all  depend- 
upon  the  English.  If  they  adopt  Hiranya- 
kasipu's  ways  the  Mahatma  will  assume  the 
incarnation  of  '  Nrisimha '  (sloka  from 
Prahlada).  He  has  asked  us  to  meditate  upon 
Srimannarayana  always.  If  this  incarnation 
of  '  Nrisimha '  comes,  these  English  will  be 
the  cause  of  it. 


VII 

We  are  representing  to  all  who  possess 
money.  They  carried  away  all  the  gold  and 
silver  which  was  with  us  and  introduced 
papers.  It  is  not  enough  that  it  merely  bears 
the  stamp  of  His  Majesty  George  V.  Declaring 
Moratorium,  they  withheld  payment  of  money. 
What  will  become  of  all  your  papers,  if  Swaraj 
is  established  in  our  country  under  Mr.  Gandhi? 
They  will  say  to  them  who  are  now  shampoo-- 
ing  the  legs  of  the  Government,  "Go*  you  and: 
shampoo  legs." 


126  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

VIII 

So  say  out  chiefly  in  this  meeting,  *<  we 
shall,  without  paying  as  much  heed  to  this 
British  Government  as  to  a  hair,  let  them  know 
their  bad  practices  and  intend  to  destroy  their 
wickedness." 

IX 

Venkatappayya  Pantulu,  who  is  solely  a 
Desabhakta  (a  devotee  to  the  country),  is  the 
Guru  (Preceptor)  to  us  all.  What  has  he  said 
He  has  said  "  The  time  of  destruction  has  come 
and  some  decision  must  be  arrived  at." 

Gopal :— I  will  take  para  by  para  and  com- 
ment on  them.  The  first  para  suffers,  in  fact 
all  do,  from  all  the  infirmities  mentioned  in  my 
preliminary  statement.  All  the  sentences  men- 
tioned in  the  first  para  must  certainly  have 
occurred  somewhere  in  the  course  of  my  speech. 
But  they  have  been  unrecognisably  scattered. 
For  instance,  take  the  sentences  "  Why  have 
our  people  come  ?  They  have  come  for  all  the 
three.  Begging  has  become  the  chief  thing. 
Thieving  is  going  on  in  our  counlry."  You 
certainly,  credit  me  with  some  sense  of  sequ- 
ence.   Don't  you  ? 

Dt.  Mg. : — Of  course. 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  127 

Gopal  : — Well,  thank  you,  then  what  do  you 
"think  of  these  ?  Is  there  not  murder  of  sequ- 
-ence  ?  Now  take  the  last  sentence  "  They  have 
first  instilled  poison."  This  should  be  as  "  They 
have  next  instilled  poison  in  the  shape  of  bad 
education  to  secure  devotion."  This  poison 
brought  about  paralysis  of  the  mind  and  engen- 
dered slave  mentality.  If  the  attention  of  the 
audience  is  drawn  to  this,  it  is  not  to  instill 
hatred  but  to  induce  self-pity  as  every  govern- 
ment does,  it  may  be. 

p.  P.  :  We  are  not  concerned  with  your  inten- 
tions. It  may  be  and  perhaps  is  good.  But  the 
words  as  they  are  may  create  hatred. 

Gopal.  Yes.  They  may  create  hatred  only 
in  a  prejudiced,  morbid,  self-seeking,  moderate, 
non-Brahmin  and  government  party  audience 
whose  delicate  mental  constitution  is  most  easily 
disturbed  by  even  a  look  at  it-  Certainly  not  the 
most  unsophisticated  audience  I  had. 

In  the  second  paragraph  those  sentences 
might  have  occurred  somewhere  in  my  speech. 
This  para  also  suffers  from  the  same  ailments. 
My  idea  was  my  eye,  being  trained  to  see  the 
finest  breed  of  men  and  women  in  Europe 
during  my  long  stay  of  five  years  over  there, 
found   my  people,   in  its    first    impression    of 


128  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

them,  awfully  Lilliputian,  dwarfish,  stunted.  Na 
wonder,  I  felt,  every  European  on  landing, 
instinctively  despises  us  as  a  race,  as  they  are^ 
guided  mostly  in  their  opinions  by  their  first 
physical  impressions.  This  war  of  reconstruction 
of  social  polity  must  be,  I  mean,  a  sort  of 
national  purgative  in  which  even  319  millions 
of  Lilliputs  may  sacrifice  themselves  leaving 
behind  just  a  million  who  can  stand  the  trial  to 
provide  seed  for  the  new  generation.  When  I 
referred  to  shame  I  alluded  to  the  astonishment 
everybody  will  have  at  the  lack  even  of  a  sense 
of  subjection  in  us.  One  of  your  greatest 
professors  Sir  John  Seeley  himself  whose  work,. 
I  fancy,  is  prescribed  to  you  (I,C,S.  men).  Sir, 
said  that  the  moment  national  consciousness 
merely  sprouts  in  the  Indian  mind  we  must 
think  that  is  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Now 
let  me  take  up  the  third  para.  Rudra  is  the 
Presiding  Deity  (Adhisthanadevata)  of 
Economics,  the  third  in  the  Hindu  Trinity. 
Economics  deal  with  wealth.  Wealth  invests 
all  things  with  utilities  and  render  them  capa- 
ble of  being  appropriated  and  consumed.  Even 
mental  capital  is  included.  Consumption  decrees 
death  to  all  things,  a  change  of  name  and  form. 
When  mankind    find  themselves  in   economic 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  129^ 

mood  as  we  are  now  it  is  destruction  of  all 
things  that  is  ordained.  It  is  lay  a-  Layakarta 
is  Rudra.  That  is  why  we  find  the  world  in  the 
vortex  of  a  big  conflagration  now.  And  the 
leaders  of  mankind  now  are  all  Rudras  not  of 
good  but  of  evil.  Such  is  the  case  with  De^ 
Valera,  Lenin,  Gandhi,  and  Zaghul  Pasha. 
This  thesis  can  be  understood  only  by  a  typical 
Indian  audience  unlettered  though  they  may  be^ 
in  your  opinion  but  perfectly  capable  of  compre- 
hending by  virtue  of  the  equipment  of  their 
mental  and  moral  constitution. 

The  idea  in  the  fourth  para  is  that  even  the 
elements  were  discontented.  They  become  so 
owing  to  an  attitude  of  our  mind.  For  example,, 
you,  Europeans,  are  out  for  the  conquest  of 
nature.  You  bear  a  belligerent  attitude  while 
we  call  this  earth,  Bhudevi  (Mother).  Take  the 
case  of  Kistna  Anicat.  You  spent  so  many 
millions  of  money.  You  cut  her  throat  and  got 
her  blood  for  irrigation  and  proclaimed  you 
have  conquered  her.  But  she  conquers  you  now. 
She  is  getting  silted  up  and  very  soon  the 
course  of  the  river  itself  may  change  needing 
another  waste  of  a  large  number  of  millions  of 
money.  I  was  pleading  for  the  restoration  of  our 
fundamental  traditional  attitude  towards  nature. 
9 


130  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

This  (mentioned  in  the  fifth  para)  was  at 
Boulatabad  in  Nizam's  territory,  the  ElioraCave 
temples.  It  might  apply  to  the  Nizam's  Govern- 
ment perhaps  the  Prosecution  does  not  know 
it.  Bad  Geography  again  :  though,  of  course, 
Nizam's  territory  is  a  subordinate  clause  to  the 
British  Government. 

As  for  the  sixth  para,  words  are  the  ayudhas 
{weapons)  for  our  Rishis.  They  are  called 
Sapayudhas.  Sapa  is  not  a  curse.  It  does 
not  bring  on  evil  but  is  calculated  to  do  good  to 
■one  on  whom  it  is  bestowed.  Words  uttered 
by  a  Rishi  like  Gandhi  are  concentrated  moral 
and  spiritual  dynamite.  The  words  '  Equality, 
Liberty  or  Fraternity  '  were  responsible  for  the 
•doom  of  many  an  Empire  in  Europe  which  is  still 
groaning  under  their  effect.  Who  knows  Swaraj 
is  not  one  such  another  to  destroy  another 
Empire  of  egoism  ? 

The  measure  of  prowess  of  Ramachandra  is  to 
be  judged  not  by  punishing  Ravana,  a  master 
egoist  who  is  easily  vulnerable  to  ordinary 
virtue  but  his  power  over  the  Infinite  as  the 
sea,  of  all  visible  things  in  the  world,  is  Infinite, 
the  nearest  kinsman  of  god.  I  compared  this  to 
the  prowess  of  the  British  Empire  that  it  should 
be  judged  not  by  its  thorough  enslavement  of 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  131 

-300  millions  and  perhaps  all  the  world  by  its 
diplomacy  and  silver  bullet,  but  in  the  words 
of  Macaulay,  by  its  establishment  of  an  Empire 
of  morality  over  the  world. 

Ramadandu  is  suggested  by  your  Scout 
Movement  They  scouted  out  Sita's  where- 
abouts. Unalloyed  devotion,  unfailing  love 
-towards  all  beings,  constant  readiness  to  spring 
to  action  at  the  call  of  Dharma,  Love  and 
Sacrifice  are  its  primary  features.  It  is  a  more 
-comprehensive  one  and  it  is  a  correct  Indian 
reply  to  the  Western  form  of  Boy  Scout  Move- 
ment. 

The  allusion  to  Hiranya  Kasyapa  is  intended 
to  strongly  repudiate  all  our  responsibility  for 
any  violence  that  might  occur.  Hiranyakas- 
yapa,  while  praying  to  Brahma,  obtained 
insurance  and  immunity  against  all  conceivable 
poses  and  weapons  of  Vishnu  but  did  not 
contemplate  one  particular  contingency  that  of 
Man-Lion  which  Vishnu  in  relief  adopted  to 
deal  with  him.  So  Hiranyakasyapa  himself  is 
responsible  to  the  hideous,  terrible,  Man-Lion 
-«hape  which  fell  on  him-  If  Prahlada  is  given 
the  option  of  determining  Vishnu's  shape  in  his 
manifestation  for  destroying  his  father  he  would 
.have    perhaps    prescribed     an    amiable,   non- 


132  THE  CHIRALA.-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

violent,  sweet-mannered  morning  suit-  But  he 
had  no  say  in  the  matter.  Even  so  we,  like 
Prablada,  are  not  responsible  for  the  appearance 
of  violence  If  it  were  to  come.  If  it  comes,  we 
like  Prahlada,  may  not  escape  (Heaven  forbid  !) 
its  infection  as  the  Lord  in  his  Manifestation 
filled  all  the  JJmverse  (Sthavar a  jangdma).. 
And  Prahlada  also  at  the  moment  did  not 
escape  being  filled  thus.  But  if  the  egoism  of 
the  Government  takes  the  form  of  Bali  as  I 
fancy  it  is  so  now  and  helps  in  the  realisation 
of  all  our  wishes,  the  Avatar  would  be  Vamana 
as  it  is  now  in  the  shape  of  Gandhi,  the  puny 
form.  The  prosecutor  suggested  that  even  in 
this  case  the  third  foot  of  Vamana  is  placed  on 
the  head  of  Bali  and  destroyed  him.  I  am  quite 
sorry  for  his  knowledge  of  the  mythology.  It 
simply  sent  him  to  Pdthdla,  the  Antipodes  and. 
made  him  the  monarch  of  everything  there. 
Surely  in  this  spherical  globe  your  country 
represents  the  Antipodes  of  ours.  The  idea  is 
we  are  asking  you  three  feet  measure  of  boon 
like  Vamana.  The  first  is  righting  the  Punjab- 
wrong,  the  second  is  Khilafat  and  the  third  is 
Swaraj\  which  sends  you  to  confine  your  rule 
to  your  own  country  and  be  our  allies  to* 
exchange    hoasts    of   friendship    on  our  San- 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  133 

.krdnii  day  when    Bali  is  worshipped  in    my 
country* 

Dt.  Mg. : — You  mean,  in  short,  you  are  not 
responsible  for  any  violence. 

Gopal : — Quite  so  :  We  and  our  movement. 

The  matter  of  the  seventh  para  I  have  already 
-explained.  I  am  complaining  against  bad 
economics  of  this  bad  system  of  government. 
'*  Shampooing  legs  "  is  an  idiom  in  our  language 
and  its  grotesqueness  is  due  to  obscene  transla- 
tion. Strictly  speaking  it  means  sycophancy, 
fawning. 

In  the  eighth  para  also  there  is  bad  idiom  in 
translation.  *  Hair '  must  be  replaced  by  the 
word  '  straw.' 

In  the  last  para  bad  idiom  again.  Not  '  sole- 
ly '  but '  genuine  '  Desabhakta.  Utterances  in 
inspired  moments  are  prophetical.  He  said 
^  Vindsakdlam'  (*the  time  of  destruction') 
It  means  transformation  into  a  better  one.  It  is 
not  destruction  for  nothing  is  destroyed  *when  a 
Kiandle  is  burnt-' 

I  have  nothing  to  say  further  except  to  ask 
you  to  send  to  jail  as  many  of  my  countrymen 
as  you  can  and  thus  accelerate  the  establish- 
ment of  Swaraj  in  my  country. 

Afterwards  the  District  Magistrate  framed 


134  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

the  charge  that  his  speech  comes  under  124  A  - 
Indian  Penal  Code,  and  should  be  tried  in  this 
court  (by  himself). 

Gopal : — Did  my  speech  create  disaffection 
in  you  ? 

Dt.  Mg. : — No.  But  it  might  have  created  dis- 
affection in  your  unlettered  audience.  Do  you; 
plead  guilty? 

Gopal : — Morally  I  have  not  been  guilty  of 
any  offence  towards  anybody  in  this  connec- 
tion. I  do  not  put  in  any  defence.  We  are 
enjoined  by  our  Congress  creed  not  to  recognise 
this  as  a  Court  of  Law. 

Dt.  Mg.  : — Do  you  wish  to  cross-examine  any 
of  the  prosecution  witnesses  ? 

Gopal : — No.  I  do  not  want  to  be  cross  with 
them  at  all. 

P.  p. :— Not  cross  but  do  you  cross -exa-^ 

mine  ? 

Gopal : — When  you  are  only  cross  you  want 
to  cross-examine, 

P.  P.  (addressing  Dt.  Mg.) :— The  accused's 
main  contention  is  that  there  was  omission  of 
some  parts  of  his  speech  but  he  did  not  definite- 
ly state  them.  Therefore  that  ground  is  per- 
fectly useless.  He  is  not  positive  in  his  com- 
ments to-day  and  hence  it  is  equally  of  no  use-^ 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  135 

It  is  not  a  question  of  drawing  up  one's  imagi- 
nation but  the  primary  question  is  what  does  it 
convey  to  an  ordinary  mind  ?  His  intention 
may  be  different  but  natural  effects  went  the 
other  way.  The  very  fact  that  he  said  that  the 
Government  poisons  us  will  certainly  create 
hatred.  Human  nature  being  what  it  is,  I  do 
not  think  his  audience  is  full  of  philosophers  to 
appreciate  the  philosophical  notes  of  his  speech. 
He  has  done  a  positive  disservice  to  the  Govern-^ 
ment.  Sending  a  man  to  Swarga  means  literal- 
ly to  kill  him.  He  incited  the  people  to  kill 
Englishmen  in  those  words.  He  said  even 
elements  boycott  those  who  live  under  the 
Adharma  rule  of  a  king,  thus  creating  the 
impression  in  the  mind  of  the  simple  folk  that 
the  rule  of  the  British  Government  is  unjust. 
The  accused  says  that  Daulatabad  is  in  the 
Nizam's  territory  and  if  it  at  all  offends,  it 
should  offend  the  Nizam's  Government.  But  I 
submit  that  people  do  not  know  geography  and 
where  the  place  is.  They  think  it  is  in  the^ 
British  dominions  and  this  helps  to  create 
hatred  and  disaffection. 

Therefore  on  these  grounds  I  submit  the 
accused  has  offended  the  Law  and  should  be^ 
dealt  with  according  to  the  Law. 


136  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Dt.  Mg. : — (to  the  accused) — Do  you  wish  to 
«ay  anything? 

Gopal : — If  you  permit,  I  will  put  in  my  final 
statement  to-morrow  in  which  I  will  expound 
to  you  the  philosophy,  and  the  principles 
of  our  movement  in  support  of  my  speech. 

Dt.  Mg. : — Yes.  1  permit  you  to  file  your 
■statement.  I  adjourn  the  case  till  to-morrow 
at  2  P.M. 

Third  Day  (.l2th  November). 

D.M.  : — Will  you  read  your  final  statement  ? 

Gopal : — Yes  (and  he  began  to  read  the  fol- 
lowing final  statement). 

FINAL  STATEMENT 

This  is  the  first  State  Prosecution  in  my 
Andhradesa  and  I  congratulate  myself  as  being 
the  first  friend  of  124-A.  Indian  Penal  Code. 
This  is  my  final  statement .  This  is  primarily 
addressed  to  you  as  an  English  gentleman  and 
through  you  to  all  my  countrymen.  I  am 
rsorry  I  cannot,  technically  speaking,  recognise 
this  as  a  Court  of  Law.  Nevertheless,  British 
gentlemen  have,  humanly  speaking,  a  right 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  actual  situation  of 
my  country  and  I  am  convinced  that  most  of 
them,  honest  and  conscientious  among  them  I 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  137 

miean,  are  sincerely  anxious  to  throw  in  their  lot 
with  the  struggles  for  freedom  wherever  they 
obtain.     Therefore  I  consider  myself  as  having 
B>  delightful  talk  with  a  kindly  British  gentle 
man  in  his  own  parlour. 


INDIAN  NATIONALISM 

India's  emancipation  is  of  a  far  more  profound 
consequence  to  the  welfare  of  the  world  than 
perhaps  of  other  countries,  except  I  seriously 
apprehend  Ireland  with  its  Celtic  blood  and 
culture,  as  our  political  idealism  is  far  more 
comprehensive  than  that  professed  elsewhere. 
The  fundamental  conceptions  of  our  political 
philosophy  and  practice,  if  they  are  to  be  steered 
clear  through  the  storm  of  unpatented  ideas 
that  is  raging  about  the  Indian  mentality  at 
the  present  moment,  guided  by  correct  dynamic 
appreciation  of  our  tradition,  of  our  historical 
consciousness,  "Sanchita  Karma,"  the  abiding 
moral  pose  of  our  fundamental  "  Swabhava," 
need  at  the  present  juncture  of  our  national 
destiny  a  clear  and  perhaps  a  very  brief  and 
almost  aphoristic  enunciation  so  that  our 
present  rulers,  our  intellectual  Eurasians  and 
dn  fact  the  whole  world  which  is  groaning  for 


138  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

freedom  can  understand  and  bear  witness  before 
the  Maker  of  All  Things  to  the  righteousness  of 
our  cause  and  also  probably  to  our  competence  to 
lead  political  thought  and  action  in  the  world. 

It  is  our  peculiar  fate  and  fortune  that  the 
new  system  of  moral  and  mental  philoso- 
phy that  is  to  guide  the  world  in  the  "  Nava 
Yuga."  (The  new  age) — the  Post- Industri- 
al Age — is  to  arise  out  of  the  present  momen- 
tous conflict  in  our  country ;  as  this  conflict,, 
it  is  important  to  emphasise,  is  not  to  be 
understood  as  aiming  at  merely  wresting 
power  from  the  hands  of  the  British,  but  as  one 
where  in  all  conceivable  ideas  of  principle  and 
conduct  are  fighting  for  supremacy  in  the 
governance  of  the  Universe.  We  must  recognise 
that  India  now  represents  a  "  Triveni  Sanga- 
mam," — a  confluence  of  the  three  mighty 
streams  that  have  so  far  nourished  the  life  on 
this  planet/  namely  Hinduism  (which  includes 
of  course  Buddhism),  Mohamadanism  and; 
Christianity— in  the  sacred  waters  of  which  the 
future  humanity  must  bathe  itself  off  all  their 
past  sins  and  emerge  out  with  the  new  robes  of 
righteousness,  love  and  sacrifice  into  the 
*'Krithayuga  "  that  awaits  them  with  Immort- 
al Bliss. 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  139' 

The  European  struggle  and  all  the  horrid 
agony  and  divine  discontent  prevailing  in  the 
world  of  to-day  is  but  the  frontier  of  the 
conflict,  or  rather  to  be  more  correct,  the  union 
of  cultures  that  is  going  on  in  my  country.  The 
range  of  Indian  consciousness  is  not  merely 
national  in  the  European  sense  of  the  term,  not 
merely  human  either,  but  comprehends  the 
entire  universe  which  includes  not  only  human- 
ity, but  animality,  vegetality  and  minerality  ;. 
and  according  to  our  tradition  13  other  worlds 
yet  unconceived  by  the  modern  intellect.  If  we 
adopt  the  European  national  spirit  at  the  pre- 
sent moment  in  our  moral  action,  it  is  only  to 
be  understood  as  the  intensive — and  not  the 
extensive — method  of  enabling  the  fruits  of  our 
action  to  benefit  the  entire  universe-  The  new 
phenomenon  that  has  now  arisen  in  European 
moral  practice,  namely,  the  League  of  Nations 
(It  must  be  stated  here  that  it  is  so  far  political, 
of  course,  and  does  not  extend  to  the  entire 
moral  sphere,  but  I  think  if  it  at  all  lives  it  is 
potential  of  the  widest  import)  appears  to  be 
the  extensive  form  of  the  method.  And  this  is,, 
as  it  should  be,  as  Indian  individuality  is^ 
characterised  fundamentally  by  subjective  and 
spiritual  pursuit  while  that  of  the  European  is 


140  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

objective  and  material.  And  this  is  amply  and 
significantly  illustrated  in  our  non-co-operation 
movement. 


NON-CO-OPERATION 

If  the  Punjab  wrong,  the  Khilafat  treachery, 
and  if  my  indulgence  is  pardoned,  the  Chirala- 
Perala  tragedy  and  the  almost  incurable, 
interminable  foreign  tyranny  announce  them- 
selves to  our  mind  as  the  causes  of  our  move- 
ment, they  must  be  recognised  as  the  '*  Nimitta  '^ 
(Topical,  Ostensible)  and  not  the  **  Upadana  " 
(The  Primal,  Real)  causes  for  starting  us  on  this 
national  "  Yoga  Sadhana"  under  the  guidance 
of  Gandhi  '  Maharishi '  to  achieve  "  Swar§.jya," 
the  final  'liberation.  Non-co-operation  is  but 
the  purificatory  stage  of  the  Yoga,  the  *  Yama  ' 
stage  which  is  defined  to  consist  explicitly  of 
*  Ahimsa.' '  Astheya,'  *  Brahmacharya/  '  Apari- 
graha,'  etc  Curiously  and  significantly  enough 
that  in  these  days  of  Europeanisation  of  Indian 
mentality,  such  a  scrupulous  adherance  to  our 
traditional  methods  of  sadhana  issuing  forth 
from  Gandhi  Maharishi's instinct  and  injunction 
show  that  at  last  India  has  begun  to  discover 
iier  soul.    The    abiding    Dharmabeeja    (The 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  141 

Seed  of  Righteousness)  is  sprouting  forth.  Non- 
co-operation,  with  due  deference  to  our  Poet- 
Laureate,   is  not  ''  a  congregated   menace    of 
negation  shouts  and   denial  of  love  and  life  '* 
and  so  forth,  but  constitutes  an  Anubhava  and 
Sathwicabhava  which  leads  up  to  the  funda- 
mental aethos  Rasa,  the   Beautiful  (one  of  the 
three  theoretic  forms  of  Reality)  which  leads 
up  to  the  fundamental  sentiments  of  the  aesthe- 
tic organisation  of  the  Universe  or  the  World 
process,|viz.,  Sringara  (Love;.  Isl on- co-operation 
embodies  the  abiding  sentiments  of  "  Khandi- 
thanayika  "  (the  woman  who  snubs  her  Lord) 
one  of  the  eight  heroines  mentioned  in  Indian 
dramaturgy.  Perhaps  "  Raudra  "  (The  furiously 
'  Bhibhathsa  "  (The  detestable;   and    "  Bhaya- 
naka  "  (The  terriblej  "  Rasas  "  await  to  be  dis- 
closed in  God's  wardrobe  in  the  present  drama 
of  Universal  reconstruction.    This  non-co-opera- 
tion in  the  case  of  these  three  Rasas  may   also 
constitute     a     "  Vyabhichari-Bhava  "      which 
nourishes  them.  A  non-acquaintance  with  the 
traditional  Hindu  Aesthetics  alone  should  have 
instilled  the  doubt  that  non-co-operation  may- 
be  an    un-Indian   method    of     furthering    the 
Cause  of  Life.    Gandhi  Maharishi,  our  Guru,  to 
be     "  Purushottama  "    must    be     capable    of 


142  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

**  Navarasaspoorthi  "  ("must  comprehend  the  nine 
varieties  of  Rasa^  as  Sree  Ramachandra  was. 
The  NTine,  the  Prime  Numbers,  the  only  number 
of  fundamental  sentiments  which  produce,  not 
in  their  totality,  but  in  their  severality,  God  in 
his  fulness  must  find  their  fullest  consummation 
in  the  eventual  evolution  of  my  Guru's  charac- 
ter, and  in  our  utter  self-surrender  to  our  Guru 
^we  believe  in  it. 


LAW  AND  SWADHARMA 

This,  in  brief,  is  my  faith  which  colours  all 
my  utterances.  The  presentation  of  my  ideal 
:and  method,  therefore,  need  illustration  from 
our  mythology,  tradition  and  history  and  not  a 
mere  despicable  performance  of  the  modern, 
economic, bourgeoisie,  diletante,  philistine  mood 
and  its  positive  method  as  typified  by  the  de- 
magogue of  Trafalgar  Square.  It  is  not 
calculated  to  instil  malignant  patriotism 
nor  provoke  vulgar  hatred  of  God's  sons 
nor  even  blatant  contempt  for  egoistic 
follies  of  soidless  bureaucracies.  My 
utterances  aim  at  rejuvenating  the  atrophied 
•centres  of  human  compassion  and  pity  for  agony 
•  and  misery,  that  requires  constant  adjustment 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  143 

and  alleviation,  and  kindle  faith  and  hope  in 
the  darkness  of  desperation  and  despondency. 
The  police  that  espy,  the  Magistrate  that 
adjudicates,  thelaw  that  pants  for  vindica- 
tion, are  all  alike,  let  me  assure  you.  Sir, 
woefully  ignorant  and  culpably  untutored 
to  comprehend,  much  less  sympathize  with, 
the  form  and  movement  of  my  thought  and 
action.  A.nd  this  explains  the  unnatural 
and  grotesque  positions  that  placed  the  rulers 
and  the  ruled  in  their  relations  to  each  other. 
Law,  I  hold,  cannot  be  the  resultant  of  a  conflict 
of  interests  and  compromise  of  ideals,  is  not 
based  on  consensus,  does  not  embody  the  power 
and  pleasure  of  the  Crown  (as  in  our  view  the 
Crown  merely  executes  God's  Will  nothing  more 
nothing  less^;  but  is  Sicayamhhu  (Self-Creating) 
the  fundamental  substratum  of  the  world  pro- 
cess as  revealed  through  the  supermen  and 
their  actions.  Law  is  not  what  the  modern 
Parliamentarian,  makes  with  his  narrow  bour- 
geois interests  and  party  shibboleths  but  is  the 
utterance  of  the  Rishi  when  he  is  the  perfected 
instrument  of  the  dynamic  pose  of  the  national 
soul.  I  recognise  your  law  in  so  far  as  it 
is  in  tune  with  our  national  swadharma.  If  you 
think  I   have   offended  your   law  it  is   not  to 


144  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

defy  it  in  a  spirit  of  scorn  or  contempt,  but  to- 
provoke  it  to  purge  itself  of  its  erratic  form  and 
evil  import,  and  attune  it  to  that  of  our  own- 
If  i^ou  can  strip  yourself  of  your  official 
austerity  and  self -insinuation  as  the  defen- 
der of  law,  and  for  the  moment  become  the 
man  and  the  Irishman  that  you  are,  and 
view  it  from  a  high  pedestal^  you  will  see 
the  truth  of  it  and  realise  that  this  accusa- 
tion of  offence  is  a  mockery  of  God's  Law. 
This  offence,  if  you  still  hold  it  so  is,  capable 
of    emancipating    not    only    my   country    but 
also    yours,    and,     let     the     Britisher    under- 
stand,   his   country    too.    I    hold  the  method 
I  have   adopted  in   gaining  our  Swaraj,  viz.,. 
non-co-operation  is  and   cannot    be,   even  in 
the  hands  of  the  most   wicked  votaries  of  it,, 
violent,  as  conceived  to  be  a  method  of  gain- 
ing   political   Independence.    Every  War,    in) 
my  view,  can  afford  to  be  non- violent.    India 
exists  and  shall  exist  as  a  racial  unit  in 
this   universe,    only  to    render  war  non- 
violent and  to  teach  erring  humanity  the 
true  method    of   moral    and    social  self- 
adjustment.     India  punishes  herself    for  the 
redemption  of  the  world. 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  145 

THE  INDIAN  METHOD 
Our  moral  ideal,  our  "  Pravurthika  Dharma  " 
does  not  consist  of  our  own  emancipation,  and 
even  at  that,   political  emancipation   alone,  as 
life  is  a   complex  phenomenon  in  which  all  the 
apparently  autonomous  aspects,  social,  political, 
economical,  moral  and  aesthetic  are  interlaced 
and  intertwined  together  in  such  a  maimer  that 
action  in  one  aspect  will  have  momentous  inci- 
dence in  all  the  others ;  but  directs  itself  to- 
wards the  achievements  of  the  emancipation  of 
all  existence  from  its  phenomenal  bondage,  the 
realisation    of  every    '*  Swarupa"    (form    and 
name)  in  strict    consonance    with    its    "  Swa- 
bhava "   (individuality'   of  the  "  ^adharma  " 
(its    abiding   Functions).    In    this    view    this 
righteous  war    is    essentially    one    species    of 
educational    process    that    enables    everybody 
and  everything  to  reach    God   with    the  em- 
ployment of  the  only  true  method   (the   True 
Indian    Method)    of    appreciating    the    infinte 
variety  of  mental,  moral  and  emotional  consti- 
tution of  all  beings  so   that  every  one  grows  to 
one's  fullest  spiritual  stature,  everyone  becom- 
ing a  genius  ("  Siddha  ")  with  the  achievement 
of  fullest  originality  and  the  complete  realisa- 
tion of  one's  own  individuality.    That  is  why, 
10 


146  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

Sir,  we  are  enjoined  to  throw  in  our  lot  with  all 
struggles  for  treedom  in  this  world,  irrespective 
of  time  and  clime,  be  it  in  Ireland,  or  in  Egypt 
or  in  Russia  or  in  England.  "Sarva  Bhuta 
Hitara  "  (The  well-being  of  all  existence)  is  our 
ideal.  Wherever  it  is-  trampled  into  the  dust 
we  must  get  ready  to  sacrifice  ourselves.  And 
in  so  doing  we  do  not  bargain  with  that  bereav- 
ed nation  or  community  for  a  territorial  grant 
or  an  economic  concession  for  a  baptism  into 
our  fold  as  a  condition  precedent  to  our  allying 
ourselves  with  them.  Thus  you  can  see  that 
we  can  make  the  cause  of  our  Moslem  Brethren 
as  our  own  only  when  they  remain  truly 
Muslim,  fighting  for  their  Islam  Dharma.  The 
Hindu-Muslim  Unity,  judged  from  the  Hindu 
standpoint,  cannot  be  achieved  and  becomes  a 
mere  camouflage  if  Hindus  and  Muslims  think 
of  stripping  themselves  of  their  Hindu-ity  and 
Muhammadan-ity  to  reduce  themselves  into  a 
uniforme  clectic  hotch-potch,  at  the  bidding  of 
the  so-called  rationalistic  training  which  results 
not  in  a  real  unity  but  a  grotesque  political 
pageantry.  It  is  not  the  common  political 
suffering  that  is  to  weld  together  the  Hindu 
and  the  Muslim,  like  the  Greeks  of  old  during 
the  Persian  invasions,  but  the  mutual  respect, 


N^ 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  147 

regard,  and  love  for  each  other's  Dharma  and 
the  necessity  of  its  individuated  preservation 
that  can  and  shall  achieve  it.  Sivaraj,  therefore^ 
means  the  preservation  of  Hindu  Dharma^ 
Muslim  Dharma,  Christian  Dharma^  Parsi 
Dharma,  Sikh  Dharma,  in  short  the  Swad- 
harma  of  all,  and  a  co-ordinated  federation 
of  all,  which  are  now  being  threatened  ivith 
destruction  by  a  positive  Godless  Philoso- 
phy, industrial  anarchy,  and  spiritual 
famine  that  beset  the  world  at  the  present 
moment.  We  shall  achieve  it  by  "  Nishkama 
Karma,"  action  without  a  longing  for  the 
fruit,  and  then.  Sir,  tell  me  where  do  hatred 
and  contempt  come  in  the  performance  of  such 
an  action  ? 

My  amiable  adversary,  the  Public  Prosecutor, 
has  laboured  long  to  manufacture  hatred  and 
contempt  and  disaffection  out  of  my  speech  to- 
wards the  existing  Government,  but  alas !  he 
miserably  failed  to  do  so,  but,  however,  succeed- 
ed in  showing  up  those  (hatred,  contempt,  and 
disaffection)  in  the  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment towards  my  country.  You  know  that  I 
admitted  the  paragraphs  and  sentences  to  have 
occurred  in  the  course  of  my  speech,  though 
ailing  from  a  lot  of  infirmities  ;   and  1  accosted 


148  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

you  as  to  whether  you  yourself  were  disaffected 
over  them.  And  when  you  replied  that  possib- 
ly you  are  not  and  perhaps  my  audience,  gene- 
rally unlettered  as  they  are,  in  your  opinion 
might  have  become  so,  I  replied  that  if  they 
(my  audience)  being  acquainted  with  the 
language  of  my  speech,  my  method  of  argument, 
my  mythological  allusions,  my  vital  touches, 
my  idiom,  my  gesture,  might  be  disaffected,  you 
who  are  quite  alien  to  all  these,  sitting  in 
judgment  over  these  notwithstanding,  and 
however  sympathetic,  should  have  been  more 
so.  I  also  said  the  general  uneducatedness 
which  you  impute  to  my  audience  is  born  of 
falso  apprehension.  As  you  remember  I  remark- 
ed that  some  of  what  we,  Indians,  learn  from 
our  mother's  lap  is  imparted  to  an  European 
youth  in  the  post-graduate  course,  and  I  cited 
the  idea  of  '  Karma  '  (in  the  European  philoso-^ 
phical  slang,  the  idea  of  '  metempsychosisV  is  a 
part  and  parcel  of  our  volition,  even  from  our 
childhood  and  this  is  engendered  in  our  germ 
plasm  by  centuries  of  emotional  and  moral 
training  in  our  previous  births.  It  is  futile  per- 
haps to  argue  that  we  meant  no  disaffection 
hatred  or  contempt  as  you  cannot  perhaps  com- 
prehend our  view  of  life  that  even  a  full-fledged 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  149 

sublime  revolt  against  God  as  practised  by 
Havana,  Hiranyakasyapa  and  other  Rakshasas 
ismerely  "  Satrusadhana  "(the Controversial, the 
Oppositional,  the  Belligerent  method)  in  contrast 
with  "  Mitrasadhana "  (the  Expositary,  the 
Devotional,  and  the  Self-surrendering  methods,) 
leading  up  to  final  liberation  (Moksha)  as  they 
all  got  to.  I  have  argued  out  everything 
of  those  paras  complained  against,  in  my 
preliminary  statement  and  I  need  say  nothing 
further. 

CONCLUSION 

In  conclusion,  let  me  imitate  the  Indian 
School  Boy,  nervous  and  trembling  in  the  exami- 
nation hall,  addressing  in  his  answer  book  an 
appeal  to  the  humanity  of  the  examiner,  ignor- 
ing his  questions  to  be  answered,  that  he  should 
be  passed  off  to  give  him  a  lease  of  life  and  say 
that  you,  Sir,  shall  immediately  inform  your 
Government  that  they  expedite  the  establish- 
ment of  Swarajya  by  sending  thousands  and 
thousands  of  my  countrymen  into  the  Training 
Colleges  of  patriotism  and  self-fulfilment,  your 
jails.  Delay  is  dangerous.  My  Lord  Sree  Rama 
Chandra  has  sanctioned  the  prosecution  of 
three  hundred  millions  of  my  countrymen,  in . 


150  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY 

the  Civil  Disobedience  resolution  at  Hastinapura 
(Delhi),  the  cremation  ground  of  many  an 
Empire  of  egoism,  the  outskirts  of  Kurukshetra, 
and  His  Inspector-General,  the  Lord  of 
Eamadandu,  Mahatma  Gandhi  awaits  to  execute 
it.     My  incessant  prayer  is  that  thus  shall  it  be. 

"  Swasthi  Sree  Ramarpana  Masthu.'' 

Dt.  Mg. : — The  judgment  will  be  delivered  on 
Monday,  the  14th  instant. 

Fourth  Day  {14th  November) , 

The  District  Magistrate  delivered  his  judg- 
ment at  12  noon. 

He  delivered  an  admirable  judgment  in  which 
he  admitted  that  there  was  much  force  in  the 
complaint  of  the  accused,  viz.,  mutilation  of  illus- 
tration and  the  murder  of  context.  Anyhow  as 
the  speech  offends  124A  Indian  Penal  Code, 
technically  therefore  'I  sentence  him  to  9  months 
simple  imprisonment  running  concurrently  with 
the  old  one.* 

Gopal  recited  the  following  Swasthi — 

[May  monarchs  govern  the  people  of  this 
world  in  the  true  righteous  path  and  all  bliss  to 
them :  May  the  cow  and  the  Brahmin  be 
blessed  with  peace  and  plenty  ever  and  ever- 
May  happiness  reign  over  the  entire  world.] 

This  is  our  national  anthem.     It  is  known  to 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  151 

every  orthodox   Hindu  throughout  the  length- 
and  breadth  of  this  land.    The  words  cow  and 
Brahmin  mean  the  nourishers  of  our  body  and 
soul.  Brahmana   gives  milk  of  knowledge   and: 
love.  It  is  the  generic  Brahmin    and   not    the 
modern  variety  which  is  a  mockery.     It  means > 
the  educators  of  the  world. 

Ramdas   Duggirala  Gopalakrishna's  message 
to  his  countrymen — 
To  my  countrymen, 

The  Civil  Revolution  began. 

Gita  Ch.  2.- 
[If  thou   should'st  not  engage  thyself  in  this 
holy  war,  thou  shalt  perish  with  thy  fame  and 
svadharma   (individuality  as  a  nation)  and  live 
ever  in  sin]. 

Of  this  I  remind  you  all,  my  brethren.  Hope- 
you  can  draw  upon  from  the  Lord's  assurance. 
["  But  they  who,  cleansed  of  other' — ness. 
Where'er  they  turn.  See  ME  hail  ME, 
At-One  for  aye  in  ME  are  they  : 
I'gain  for  them,  I  hold  for  them."] 
Yoga  is  the  securing  of  our  further  aspirat- 
ions and  Kshema    means  the  preservation  of 
that  already    secured.     These  are    the    Lord's 
concern.    Let  us  jump  in   with  a  *Nishkama 
Dhruthi '    with  the    determination    devoid    of 


152  THE  CHIRALA-PERALA  TRAGEDY. 

longiDg  after  any  fruit.  We  may,  and  perhaps 
will,  perish  in  the  conflict  but  our  children  and 
the  generations  to  come  shall  enjoy  the  fruit. 
Let  there  be  no  violence  even  in  the  hour  of  the 
utmost  temptation.  That  would  be  puerile 
egoism,  self-destruction  and  un-Indian  in  the 
extreme. 

And  even  in  the  hour  of  victory  be  generous 
and  chivalrous. 

[If  you  catch  your  enemy  who  deserves 
death,  see  that  you  do  not  kill  him,  but  do  good 
to  him  and  send  him  away.] 

Gandhi  Maharishi  is  born  to  lead  us  to 
Swardjya  and  thence  to  Swardjya.  He  is 
our  Superman,  our  Jivanrnukta,  the  Transpar- 
ent Instrument  of  God's  Will.  Mistake  him 
not.  March  on  to  Victory  under  his  guidance. 
Non-violent  non-co-operation  surely  the  un-ini- 
tiate  misunderstand. 

[That  which  is  thought  of  as  darkness  by  all 
beings  is  light  to  the  Rishi  and  vice  versa.] 

So  be  not  deceived.  Have  faith  in  him  and 
glory  and  Victory  shall  be  ours. 

The  Punjab  wrong,  Khilafat  treachery,  and 
Chirala-Perala  tragedy  are  but  the  Avaroha- 
nas,  The  descending  ones,  in  the  even  song  of 
Swaraj  whose  Aroharas,  the  ascending  ones, 


ALLEGED  SEDITION  153 

are  the  establishmeint  of  Swaraj  in  India  and 
also  in  England,  which  awaits  you  in  your  on- 
coming struggle.  I  am  destined  to  deny  myself 
the  sharing  of  y(»ur  pangs  in  suffering  and 
sacrifice  :  but  may  yet  share  your  joy  when  it 
is  settled  and  beccmes  the  Rasa  of  universal 
love.     I  embrace  you  all  and  exit  to  my  cell, 

Swasthi  Sri  Ramarpana  Masthu. 

(Camp)Sub'Ja^l,^  Yours  in  love, 

.^.Tt^    T     y  DUGGIRALA 

14th  November    ,    gOPALAKRISHNAYYA. 

1921,  J 

Another  message  was  also  delivered  by  him 
to  his  Chirala-Perala  brethren  to  carry  out 
their  fight  to  the  end  and  according  to  the 
decision  of  Gandhiji  and  the  Andhra  leaders. 
These  messages  were  handed  over  to  me  early 
morning  on  14th  November,  at  12  o'clock  the 
judgment  was  delivered,  and  by  2  o'clock  train 
he  was  sent  to  the  Trichinopoly  Jail.  Thus 
ended  one  of  the  farcical  trials  in  a  British 
Court  of  Law  ! 


11 


BOOKS  that  will  lead  to  Liberty 

The  Piigrims'  March : 

Their  Mejisages 

"The  iire  of  suffering  has  brought  forth  some 
fine  thoughts  clothed  in  beautiful  language.  I 
must  confess  that  I  have  seen  nothing  like  it 
before  in  all  the  ponderous  speech  and  ad- 
dresses which  has  ticked  our  ears  or  deli^^hted 
our  inrellect."— M.K.G.  Price  Re.  1. 

Thoughts  on  Democracy 

By  Joseph  Mazzini  Price  As.  4. 

The  temple  of  Freedom 

By  Sarojini  Devi  Price  As.  4. 

To  India: 

The  Mess&ge  of  the  Himalayas 

Bv  Paul  Richard  Price  As.  8. 

The  Charka  Price  As.  4. 

A  small  booklet  in  four  chapters  by  SaralaDevi. 

At  the  Point  of  the  Spindle 

By  Srimati  Sarla  Devi,  "The  hand  that  spun 
in  India  supplied  the  nation  with  food,  comfort, 
and  liberty.  It  is  at  the  point  of  the  spi  ndle  only 
that  we  shall  win  back  our  freedom.  Price  As.  4. 

The  Soul  of  India      (Third  Edition). 

A  vision  cf  the  past  and  future  by  Mrs.  Sarojini 
Naidu. — A  little  book  in  four  chapters  beauti- 
fully expressing  the  spiritual  earning  in  the 
Indian  national  movement.  Price  As.  4. 

The  Ethics  of  Passive  Resistance 

A  complete  treatise  on  Passive  Resistance  by- 
Mr.  M.  S.  Maurice  and  Satyagrah  by  M.  K. 
Gandhi.  Price  As.  4. 

Nicolai  Lenin 

The  Leader  of  Bolshevik  Russia— His  Life  and 
Life  work.  P^^^^^  ^s.  8. 

Count  Leo  Tolstoy 

His  Lire  and  Life  Work.  P^^^^  ^^ij- 

GANESH  &  CO.      ::     Publishers       ::       Madras 


BOOKS  by  Prof.  VASWANl 

SRI  KRISHNA 

The  Saviour  of  Humanity 

"  In  this  book  the  author  once  again  recounts,  the 
ideals  of  Aryan  culture  as  interpreted  by  Sri  Krish- 
na, the  Saviour  of  Humanity."  Re.  1 

MY  MOTHERLAND 

This  book  is  a  collection  of  essays  on  various  topics 
of  current  interest.  These  essays  will,  the  Pub- 
lisher's hope,  help  to  a  better  appreciation  of  all  that 
is  involved  in  the  National  awakening  and  so  help 
Indians  to  put  deeper  purpose  and  effectiveness  into 
the  inspiring  words. — "  My  Motherland, ' '        Re.  1-8 

THE  SPIRIT  AND  STRUGGLE  OF  ISLAM 

The  Essays  and  Addresses  brought  together  in  this 
volume  indicate  the  author's  appreciation  of  the 
deeper  values  of  Islam  and  his  anxiety  at  the  present 
situation  created  by  the  greed  and  diplomacy  of  the 
*  Great  Powers  .'  Re.  1-8 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  FREEDOM 

Essays  on  the  Spirit  and  Method  of  Non- 
co-operation.  "  The  book  should  be  widely  redd 
by  all  those  who  wish  to  appreciate  the  Idealistic 
Aspect  of  the  movement ". — Standard  Bearer.    As.  12 

THE  SECRET  OF  ASIA  i 

A  series  of  brilliant  essays  on  the  spiritual  idealism 
of  the  East  in  art,  literature,  culture,  philosophy 
and  religion  and  the  meaning  and  message  of 
that  idealism  to  the  modern  world. — Everyman/ s 
Review.  Re.  1 

GANESH  &  CO.,  Thambu  Chetti  St.,  Madras 


LOAN  DEPT. 

lie    fC    aIiio    ^_     ^l  . 


LD21A-40»t-8,'7l 
<P6572sl0)476-i.32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 
Berkeley 


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